David Nicholls has created an attractive and robust screen adaptation of the classic 1861 Dickens parable of false hopes, thwarted vanities and the mysterious workings of sowing and reaping. Mike Newell directs, and the result is a watchable and accessible revival, though not groundbreaking, and not quite matching the story's passionate fear and rapture. Jeremy Irvine is a likable presence as the hero Pip (far better than in the sucrose War Horse movie); as a young blacksmith's apprentice, he is terrifyingly waylaid by escaped convict Magwitch (Ralph Fiennes). He then encounters the bizarre Miss Havisham, played with vampiric relish by Helena Bonham Carter, and the lovely Estella (Holliday Grainger), who as a haughty adult, ensnares his heart. When Pip is informed by the enigmatic lawyer Jaggers (Robbie Coltrane) that he has "great expectations" attendant on coming into a fortune from an anonymous benefactor, poor Pip is dazzled by his own miraculous destiny as a gentleman. This is a decent, slightly unadventurous film that gets the basics right – including Pip's wince-makingly snobbish betrayal of Joe Gargery (Jason Flemyng). There are great cameo turns from Sally Hawkins as Mrs Joe and David Walliams, excellent as Mr Pumblechook.