Here's a possibility:
Great Expectations (1998)
starring Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert De Niro, Anne Bancroft, Chris Cooper
Wikipedia summar excerpt:
The movie begins with young Finnegan "Finn" Bell (Jeremy James Kissner) exploring the beaches of the Gulf Coast of Florida. An escaped convict (De Niro) suddenly pops out of the water and overpowers him, making Finn promise to bring back food and medicine and a bolt cutter to get the iron shanks off his leg next day. Finn does, and the convict unexpectedly tries to make Finn take him by boat to Mexico. The police seize the small boat heading out to sea. The convict hides on a buoy, and Finn's boat is towed back to shore. The next day, Finn sees on the news that the convict has been caught, and that he was Arthur Lustig, a former mobster and his sentence is the death penalty.
Uncle Joe (Cooper) gets called to Paradiso Perduto ("lost paradise"), home of the richest lady in Florida, Ms. Nora Dinsmoor (Bancroft). Ms Dinsmoor had gone crazy several years before after being left standing at the altar by her fiancee. Ostensibly he was called there for a gardening job, but he does no gardening. Instead, she slips him a large sum of money under the door, calling it "gas money." Meanwhile, Finn, who he brought along, meets young Estella (Raquel Beaudene) in the overgrown garden. Ms Dinsmoor sees them interacting and calls Maggie (Kim Dickens), Finn's sister, to ask her to let Finn be a playmate for Estella, even though Estella apparently dislikes Finn. Maggie pushes Finn into this for the money. On Finn's first visit to Ms Dinsmoor, she is disappointed when Finn cannot dance for her, but is intrigued when he says he can draw. She forces Estella to sit for a portrait, which Finn draws with make up on an old piece of wallpaper. While he draws, Ms Dinsmoor warns Finn that he will fall in love with Estella and have his heart broken.
Here's the movie trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bq8BsIZejE This is based on the novel by Charles Dickens, which has been more-faithfully filmed previously. This updated version is fairly popular.