Review of Vanity Fair (2004) by Abby L — 08 Jul 2008

I used to be an immature fanboy who would hate on Reese Witherspoon. While Walk the Line, Election and Rendition swayed me, Vanity Fair is the film that just showed me just how wrong I was about this wonderful actress.

Vanity Fair plays like a more cynical version of Pride and Prejudice (this came out one year before), and at the center of its vicious 1820's-London aristocracy is Reese's plucky Becky Sharp. While Becky is a shameless social climber, the world she is trying to subvert is inherently rotten.

So the audience finds it easy to root for her. Witherspoon also imbues Sharp with such wit and vivacity that it's hard to not fall in love with her (as the male characters in the movie very often do).

The rest of the cast is solid -- Bob Hoskins and Eileen Atkins are hilarious, James Purefoy holds his own as Becky's paramour, Gabriel Byrne is menacing, Rhys Ifans and Romola Garai are tragically lovable and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Jim Broadbent are just total assholes.

Sumptuously directed by Mira Nair, Vanity Fair is one of 2004's ten best films. I'm surprised that more people don't know about it.