Surprisingly, Reese Witherspoon seems quite at home in 19th-century London society in this vivid adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's corset drama. Unfortunately, she fails to inspire much sympathy for the novel's cunning, charmingly conniving, social-climbing heroine. An orphan raised at a snooty girls school, where she was indentured as a maid to pay for her edification, the brilliant adult Becky Sharp (Witherspoon) rises quickly from nanny for the children of an eccentric country nobleman (Bob Hoskins), to sharp-tongued companion for his gossipy, aged society dame sister (Eileen Atkins), and then to wife-by-elopement of Hoskins' dashing army-officer nephew (James Purefoy). Infused with the spicy sensibilities of Indian director Mira Nair, the gray formality of early-1800s England is sublimated in favor of a lush and devious, almost Bollywood sense of color and pizzazz that well serves this story of bold, unapologetic feminine wiles. But as the story progresses through Becky's good and bad fortunes--from the Napoleonic Wars and her hard-gambling husband's fluctuating finances--there is no point at which Witherspoon arouses one's hope for Becky's future. She simply lacks the heart to allow the audience to revel in her backhanded success or pity her periodic misfortunes. Optional. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include audio commentary by director Mira Nair, the 11-minute "making-of" featurette “Welcome to Vanity Fair,” 14 minutes of deleted scenes (including an alternate opening), and the nine-minute segment “The Women Behind Vanity Fair” on the film's mostly female cast and crew. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a flawed adaptation of Thackeray's masterpiece.] (R. Blackwelder)
Vanity Fair
Universal, 141 min., PG-13, VHS: $23.98, DVD: $29.98, Feb. 1 Volume 20, Issue 1
Vanity Fair
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