| Show k Volume Luts Depth ram in I Vanity j Fair l r l It ti Allen JohnsonY Johnson Y Movie MOlie Editor In a film that could have been a fantastic period piece the sheer volume of the original original original nal source material limits the depth of the characters and the story Adapted from the classic book by William Villiam Makepeace Thackery Vanity Fair tells the year 40 story of a young girl named Rebecca Sharp and her rags to riches to rags journey through the London social classes at the dawn of the century With many elements similar similar similar simi simi- lar to Gone With the Wind this had a lot of potential to be bean bean bean an epic film Unfortunately director Mira Nair bit off more that she could chew Opening in the dirty streets of London in 1802 we meet a ayoung ayoung ayoung young charismatic girl named Rebecca Sharp daughter of a peasant painter Soon thereafter she is orphaned and raised in a boarding house After graduating graduating graduating from the school she is hired to be a governess for an impoverished lord and his quirky family From there she begins to flirt and gossip her herway herway herway way up the social ladder and soon finds herself the talk of the town and a London socialite Whereas Thackery's work is truly original we have seen far too many of these characters characters characters charac charac- to be truly enraptured with them Reese Witherspoon Fear American Psycho Legally Blonde takes on the role as the conniving Rebecca Because of the length of the f Jt f I g. y 7 tJ i f IP- IP is i ll p c I It 1 t t tt I t I y r r. r atti Rawdon Craw Crawley ley James Purefoy is one of the many men who tho fall under the spell of Rebecc a Reese Witherspoon charms in Vanity Fair original book much of her character development develop develop- ment is left out leaving the audience confused at her decisions and apparent attitude swings The same thing can be said for the rest of the characters James Purefoy A Knights Knight's Tale Resident Evil plays Rawdon Crawley one of the many men to fall under the spell of Rebeccas Rebecca's charm We see glimpses of his true character but never enough to full identify identify iden iden- identify with or care much about him Romola Garai Garni n n Dirty Dancing Havana Nights plays Amelia Rebeccas Rebecca's only friend who is portrayed as little more than a weepy girl for the entire film Other notables in the cast are Jim Broadbent Topsy Moulin Rouge Gangs of NewYork New NewYork NewYork York who is always fantastic fantastic fan fan- fantastic and the up and coming coming coming com com- ing Jonathan Rhys-Meyers Rhys Titus Bend It Like Beckham Prozac Nation as the brooding George Osborne Visually this film film is beautiful Fantastic cosy costuming cos- cos 8 y turning as well as convincing 2 2 ing sets and flowing cinematography cinematography cine- cine keep this film VI from busting The elegant g a 3 gowns of the upper class tI ii mingling with the detailed bright red uniforms of the British officers at the balls J 1 s and parties are a feast for forthe forthe forthe the eyes Great Victorian J t e t p 1 r rJ J a r Reese Witherspoon is the Rebecca Sharp in the new movie Vanity Fair mansions and manors provide ample eye-candy eye during the tea sipping If only the rest of the film were as pleasing There were a few moments where the style seemed con con- There is a scene where Rebecca joins some Indian dancers belly-dancers in a performance performance performance per per- for the king It smacks heavily of the art direction music and style of Moulin Rouge Witherspoon's costume and hair also bears a striking resemblance to Nicole Kidman's Hindi Sad Diamonds number from the musical With the film spanning 40 years including nearly 5 different different different dif dif- dif dif- ferent towns many cousins and laws in-laws swapping places and a war in Belgium its no small wonder the script wasn't wasn't wasn't was was- nt able to bring depth and levels to these characters the way they deserved Most of the characters come across as shallow and one dimensional and leave us wondering what their motivation and reasoning reasoning reasoning reason reason- ing was for their decisions Reese Witherspoon is such sucha a shoe in for the bubbly lovable lovable lov lov- lovable able ditz I found myself confused confused con con- confused fused as to what the director wanted me to feel about her Her actions are left partially justified and partially selfish A very anticlimactic and suspect ending leaves the audience with confusion and doubt as to if that was the real finale of the film With so much potential greater care should have been taken with the story When approaching a large amount of source material its it's best to find your biggest story arcs and stick with those If you try to touch on every thread of the story they will all seem thin and This is why Vanity is just fair 6 10 |
