Review of The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) by Kate M — 02 May 2009

This wasn't anyone's finest role. Bruce Willis takes a stab at playing a gritty reporter while coming fresh off of Moonlighting and the Die Hard movies... its pretty obvious that he's still testing out his acting chops and hasn't gotten the hang of a purely dramatic role yet. Similarly, Tom Hanks is coming into this movie from Joe Versus the Volcano... and has quite a ways to go before he can pull off a dramatic part at the quality that we see in Philadelphia. Melanie Griffith is... well... not a good dramatic actress at all really. So there's no hope there. I was amused, however, when her southern accent kept breaking into that annoying New York squawk of hers.

In the end, this movie was a premature melodrama chockablock full of pretention and unfulfilled expectations. Little did the producers know that if they wanted to live up to the title they need only have waited three years...

All that said, I can see how this movie could have made an impact given the emphasis on class, racial tension, and "wilding" at the time.