It’s been a while since a good period piece has come out. Enter Vanity Fair. Reese Witherspoon has come a long way since Pleasantville and is shaping into a force to be reckoned with. So far the early reviews are mixed on this one. Here’s what some critics are saying:
“It doesn’t do justice to Thackeray’s most famous novel.”
— Dennis Schwartz, OZUS’ WORLD MOVIE REVIEWS“What’s missing from this Vanity Fair is the sense of plucky, anything-goes adventurousness that abounds in Thackeray’s novel.”
— David Sterritt, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR“Graced with Nair’s loving direction, Witherspoon’s radiance and that great cast, it is a treat, if somewhat less so than the novel.”
— Michael Wilmington, CHICAGO TRIBUNE“By film’s end, audiences are bound to be left dissatisfied with the choppy and confusing storytelling style and unhappy about the missed opportunity.”
— Claudia Puig, USA TODAY“Very nice piece of work.”
— Richard Roeper, EBERT & ROEPER
To read more early reviews, check Rotten Tomates.
i loved Vanity Fair! Previously I was reading a comment posted by someone stating that it was a gone with the wind-rip off please it was no such thing. Although I have to admit Witherspoon’s character was slighlty different and more risky if you want to look at it in a certain way, but in the end no matter how coniving Becky Sharp was you still had a sense of love and attachment to her personality nd character. I do warn those who are not long hour movie goers to refrain from seeing because of the extended length but if you can handle Lord of the Rings then go for it.
I just saw it. It is not without merit…for one thing, it’s a visual pleasure, eye candy from start to finish. But the things that are wrong are not subtle. There is a scene at Vauxhall in which the ladies wade barefoot in the mucky little fountain pool with their skirts yanked to midcalf (in 1814!) Unaccountably, this scene is very different from its parallel in the book, and for no reason, as the original is roaringly funny and would film well. There’s a scene of a costume party in which the highborn ladies are in bare-midriff harem girl attire. This is circa-1822-or-so, but still about 140 years before it would have been conceivable in England, in such a setting. One can really tell that the director is an outsider to the culture portrayed. An admiring alien, but an alien, and it shows.