Vanity Fair (Widescreen)
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Movie Reviews of Vanity Fair (Widescreen)
Movie Review: Beautiful, well-written and well-acted.
Summary: 5 Stars
I love it when prim-and-proper costume dramas have more than a touch of devilish fun and true wit. VANITY FAIR, blessed with a stunning look and excellent ensemble cast, is luckily another one of those films.
Reese Witherspoon, as Becky Sharp, gives one of her better performances, though I think her best film was ELECTION. Becky Sharp is an altogether different role for Witherspoon, and she brings to it a greater depth than you expect. Also, she's able to communicate so much of Becky's motivations in her smirk. She's alternately funny, beautiful, smart, devious and charming.
In supporting roles, Bob Hoskins, Eileen Atkins, Oscar winner Jim Broadbent and Gabriel Byrne are particularly noteworthy.
The script, written by the same person who wrote GOSFORD PARK, is excellent and contains many great scenes.
Director Mira Nair, who made MONSOON WEDDING, allows touches of Indian culture and flourish throughout the film, which gives it a unique, dazzling color.
I really, really liked this movie.
It's a delightful, occasionally very funny film; and it deals mostly faithfully with Thackeray's source material, highlighting much of the hypocrisy he found in London at the time he wrote it.
Movie Review: Reviving Becky
Summary: 5 Stars
Granted, Becky Sharp without the sharpness is a little like a castrated bull. Granted, I've thoroughly enjoyed the various film, theater, and TV interpretations of Thackery's novel in which Becky Sharp is presented as the reptile Thackery intended her to be, beginning with Miriam Hopkins's delicious "Becky Sharp" (1935), based on Langdon Mitchell's play.
But, for all her decency, I *like* Reese Witherspoon's Becky Sharp. And I confess to much preferring Romola Garai's Amelia Sedley--who has a sense of humor and a definite bitter streak--to Thackery's witless paragon of feminine virtue. I *like* the spicy allure wafting around the fat, dandyish Jos Sedley, and although I'm treading on tender ground here, I like that the mulatto Miss Swartz is pretty and capable of uttering a coherent sentence, unlike Thackery's version.
No, this isn't the book. Screenwriter Julian Fellowes and director Mira Nair give us credit for being smart enough to KNOW that it isn't the book, but a contemporary reinterpretation. If Ophelia can be revived and the Wicked Witch of the West can be revisited, why can't Becky?
Movie Review: The Unsinkable Becky Sharp
Summary: 5 Stars
As the story opens in London in 1802, we meet Becky Sharp, a poor but spirited little girl. She is soon orphaned and sent to be a servant in a posh girls' school. She acquires a good education and is determined to climb the social ladder, starting as a governess, then marrying a promising Army officer. She spends the next twenty years relentlessly pursuing her dream of being a lady.
This movie is beautiful and lavish, everything that a good period piece should be. I haven't read the book, so I just enjoyed the movie on its own merits. Reese Witherspoon does a great job with the English accent and plays the Scarlet O'Hara-ish Becky with loads of charm and brains. She really is irresistible as well as formidable, and gives an Oscar-worthy performance. The costumes and sets are opulent, with lots of striking orange fabrics.
There are plenty of ups and downs for Becky and the plot is never dull. I love period movies and this one had all the required triumphs and tragedies,romance and spectacle, to make it very satisfying.
Movie Review: Beautiful portrait of class warfare 1800's London.
Summary: 5 Stars
Becky Sharp, William Thackeray's witty protagonist from his 1828 novel Vanity Fair, is a headstrong woman determined to climb London's social ladder and rise above her humble beginnings. She has a tough feat ahead of her as she lives during an era of oppressive class warfare; one's social pedigree determines their station in life and limits their social mobility. VANITY FAIR follows the adventures of Becky on her quest to go where few will accept her.
VANITY FAIR is full of beautiful cinematography; no detail of social life in 1800's London was overlooked or undercompensated. It is a jewel to look at on the big screen and makes history come alive. Supporting characters such as Aunt Matilde and Lord Steyne add dimension to this highly-textured plot. It is easy to think that this screenplay could have expanded to further emphasize the connecting subplots which slowly are revealed during the course of this film. Kudos to director Mira Nair for a superb adaptation to a esteemed work of English literature. Recommended.
Movie Review: Another Witherspoon Charmer
Summary: 5 Stars
I won't go into the plot itself, as others have already done so, and you don't want to read it twice. Instead, I'll just leave my comments.
I've liked Reese Witherspoon from the first movie I ever saw her in, a number of years ago. She has a bequiling charm that is accentuated in Vanity Fair, so appropriate for her nature. She's always the gal who wants more out of life than life has bestowed upon her. Aren't we all that way to a degree? Don't we all take advantage of our situations in life, be it employer or lover?
Becky Sharp is the typical character for Witherspoon. She's sweet on one hand and conniving on the other hand - playing her cards to her advantage until the stack comes falling down. Such is life. The olde time setting simply adds to the flavor.
Although a bit long, I liked the movie.
Gail Gupton, Author: The 31-Day Diet of Spiritual Enlightenment and Seekers of Truth