The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)

Handle with care--this one's a bomb! Director Brian De Palma seemed an unlikely choice to transfer Tom Wolfe's mammoth bestseller-- a vibrantly satiric story about race, politics, and greed in 1980s New York--to the screen. In this case, the first impression was correct. Made with a tin ear to everything that made the book so real, the movie gets it wrong every time, starting with casting Tom Hanks in the central role (which, as anyone with brains knew, should have been played by William Hurt). Move along to the choice of Bruce Willis for the sneaky British tabloid journalist and, well, need I say more? As stylish as any De Palma film, this story of a Wall Street broker whose extramarital shenanigans trigger a racial incident that becomes front-page news gets no help from Michael Cristofer's tone-deaf script. After watching it, read Julie Salomon's behind-the-scenes book about its making, The Devil's Candy, which is much more entertaining. --Marshall Fine Amazon.com

As good as new

Orson Welles felt the only point in making a movie out of existing material is to make something completely different out of it, and DePalma sure knows how to make it his own! December 21, 2008

prophetic social commentary

Watch it now as Wall Street falls apart under the weight of poorly structured derivatives. It takes on an eerie immediacy. Deja vu, all over again. November 27, 2008

Terrible Adaptation

This movie was probably the worst adaptation of a book I have ever seen in my entire life. De Palma missed EVERYTHING that made Tom Wolfe's book so incredible. The fact that this movie is billed as comedy should be enough to deter those who enjoyed the book from watching it. Absolutely terrible film. Read the book and don't see the movie. August 28, 2008

The truth shall set you free, and if it doesn't,... LIE LIKE HELL!

I saw this film in the theaters as a teenager having not read or even heard of the book. I really enjoyed it because of the actors, the characters and their backstories. I just love satire. I hadn't even heard of Reverand Al. Now, this movie still amuses me, but on more levels. A year after I saw this film, I took a cinema class in college, where the instructor blamed the trashing of the film on its New York City premiere, where the local reviewers panned the movie for airing their city's dirty laundry. Whether civic pride or an unachievable high standard created by the prestige of the novel are to blame, this film got a bad rap. There's a lot in the film and lots to like, now as then. February 10, 2008

What a Mess.

So sad. A great 5 star novel turned into a 1 star movie. Totally miscast in every character. If anyone in a Holywood studio is out there, this is one movie that needs to be REMADE, so that its true to the novel. February 3, 2008

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