TxMike This is a period piece, set in the 18th century. There are lots of characters but only 4 that really count. The actors who play these 4 must really be good, and they all are. Mostly paced deliberately, with little action, it pays off for the patient viewer who likes to read a good book or watch a good story unfold.Robin Wright Penn is the central character Moll Flanders. She was born to an imprisoned woman, who was hanged right after. Moll was raised in orphanages and foster homes, but eventually found herself at a home with a red light in front, a brothel. That she eventually became a "working girl" out of necessity also resulted in her escape from that life. Morgan Freeman is Hibble, and for most of the story is seen finding and escorting via carriage a young girl of 9 or 10 from an orphanage to an unknown destination. He is to read to her along the journey from a journal. It was written by the mother the girl never knew, and who we find is Moll Flanders. It is his reading from this journal that we begin to see, as the movie, told in a flashback format.Stockard Channing is Mrs. Allworthy, the madam of the brothel, and the mother figure that Moll never had. But she is also the one who auctioned off Moll's virginity.The fourth key character is John Lynch as the Artist. He shows up at the brothel long after Moll had become undesirable. He was looking for a girl, the cheaper the better, for he had not much money. We find out later that his father is wealthy, but this artist had gone off on his own to make his career. He only wanted Moll as a model, and not to sleep with. Good story, good movie, the cinematography is outstanding.SPOILERS: Hibble is to take the girl to the new world, America. In a flashback the artist, now her husband, had died and we see that struggling Moll had left her daughter temporarily in the care of a friend, but when Mrs Allworthy showed up unexpectedly and captured Moll to bring her to the new world, the baby was left behind. We also see that the ship encountered a storm and was shipwrecked and, as Hibble narrated, "The name of Moll Flanders went down with the ship." Which was a giveaway to the ending, Moll Flanders didn't die, only her name. Mrs Allworthy actually died and Moll took her name, and her fortune. Hibble was her ally. The movie ends with Moll and her daughter being reunited.

PreSoylentGreen-1 This movie is only barely similar to the book, "The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the famous Moll Flanders" written by Daniel Defoe and published in 1722. So if you've read the book don't worry about it spoiling the movie for you. In fact the movie is spoiled all by itself. What a waste of time.Yes, the cast is good and I think they did as much with this movie as they could. A story like this one is takes skillful telling and this seemed to be put together no better than Frankenstein's monster. Just one scene attached to another from beginning to end.Even in the book Moll Flanders was not a sympathetic character but I believe they do try to make her one in the movie. They failed. Moll in the movie flows from one moment to the next without ever really taking charge of her life, very unlike the character in the book.The entire movie is no better than the average television soap opera. Characters display extreme emotions that didn't seem realistic and too often without us really understanding why. Groundwork was not laid for many of the scenes and so the movie left me wondering 'why did they do that' for about two seconds. And then I realized I really didn't care.A good cast and a movie based on a good book, it really should have been so much better.

GypsyGoddess This movie is my favorite historical movie ever. It follows the story of a woman named Moll Flanders, whose story is told through a diary given to her daughter. Moll is the daughter of a thief who was hung hours after her daughter's birth. She was raised in a convent, but ran away from there after being molested by a priest. She later becomes a prostitute and the movie follows the joys and misfortunes of her life after that.With a cast like this one, you can't really make a bad movie. Robin Wright, who most people know from The Princess Bride, stars as Moll. Morgan Freeman, most recently in Million Dollar Baby, plays Hibble.I give this movie ten stars and consider it a must-see for anyone who enjoys historical movies. It is an especially nice alternative to the 2004 version of Vanity Fair, since this movie is far better.

brooklynnewyorknewyork52 This film is underrated. It has more to offer than noted. It focuses on life in a society where the "haves" lead an entirely different existence/reality than those who "have not. Though apparently dated somewhat earlier it is reminiscent of a Dickensian message. Like Dickens it endeavors to point out that not everybody fits a mold, yet in a society where humanist values are lacking, the selflessness of a few are not enough . The complaint that it is rather slow is apparently based on the fact that time was invested into character development. In that way it is more like a European film than a fast paced American production. Its not an action film and should not be judged in comparison with that genre. It would have been impossible to tell the story without the time invested in plot development. It was a revealing and visually beautiful story -- some lovely imagery - vignettes that linger for just long enough to communicate the portrayal of a classical painting - a momentary shift from film to traditional visual art. The film was multifaceted.