The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders

Years ago when this aired on Baton Rouge's WLPB PBS station it was HEAVILY edited!

Only after someone reminded me that it was being re-shown on WYES in New Orleans UNCUT I eagerly tuned in!

Totally changed the entire direction of the movie! I don't think stations should be allowed to run cut movies.

Show it at a later time but don't hack up good movies, especially a classic just for someones Puritanical nonsense!

Have to say...even cut up as it was the first time I saw it, it was still a 10.

The story of Moll Flanders, thief and whore, is brought to the screen in four episodes written by period drama specialist Andrew Davies and performed by the peerless Alex Kingston.

When we first meet Moll, she lives in the house of the Mayor of Colchester, coquettishly flirting with his two sons. By the time we leave her she's been through five husbands, found the story of her origins, and turned to stealing and prostitution. But will she ultimately triumph?

This drama is fairly explicit - there's nudity and sex scenes galore. But Kingston is terrific as Moll and there are many other pleasures - Daniel Craig, Diana Rigg. Put the children in bed early and enjoy a fun nd well-done adaptation for the grown-ups.

I love this movie, it's excellent. I give it a 10.

Alex Kingston is great. Sexy and funny. Her best performance.

Alex Kingston IS Moll Flanders. Please, forget the cotton-candy version that has Morgan Freeman in the cast (though, I _adore_ Stockard Channing). This is the real thing! We get to see the real, harsh struggles of Moll in this adaptation, and how out of the muck and grime Moll finds herself. There is no happy ending here, you can bet that, but at least you get a real story that is more appropriate to the times. That is worth much more to me than a smiling happy face, in the end. This is a real, gritty film - not cheap. Highly recommended.

Entertaining but flawed screen version of Dafoe's novel. Kingston is excellent as Flanders and the rest of the cast does well also. The claustrophobic sets and many close-in shots add to the personal (and earthy!) nature of the story.

The only problem I have with the movie is the pacing (I didn't read the book, but most movies based on books seem to have this same problem). Some sequences are given too much screen time and other elements are glossed over. The "theme" is given more importance than the story, which is a shame because there are some really good things here.