Bright Young Things

Cleverly adapted from Evelyn Waugh's novel Vile Bodies, and directed by the gifted comedic actor/novelist Stephen Fry (Wilde), Bright Young Things is a terribly witty romp through 1930s prewar London with a pack of idle young swells who live scrumptious but superficial lives of joyous gossip-page decadence and scandal that could potentially ruin them. Our surrogate in this world is well-connected but flat broke novelist Adam Symes (newcomer Stephen Campbell Moore), a fringe member of this society who is railroaded into writing an anonymous gossip column about his pals (although he's soon inventing entirely fictional members of the circle just to keep his readers amused). A failure at get-rich-quick schemes, undertaken in the hopes of marrying his beautiful and "frantically bored" (but secretly vulnerable and melancholy) girlfriend (subtly heartbreaking Emily Mortimer), Adam's rapidly fluctuating fortunes are just one source of the picture's endless humor. But director Fry also hints furtively at impending misfortune lurking under the carefree surface, which bubbles up as world events encroach on these lives of leisure, elevating Bright Young Things (whose all-star supporting cast includes Jim Broadbent, Simon Callow, Richard E. Grant, Imelda Staunton, Peter O'Toole, Stockard Channing, and Dan Aykroyd) to an unexpected level of nuance and empathetic humanity. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by writer-director Stephen Fry, the 31-minute "making-of" featurette “From the Bottom Up,” the 10-minute featurette “Stephen Fry: Director,” and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a winning film.] (R. Blackwelder)