The Bonfire of the Vanities

1990 "Take one Wall Street tycoon, his Fifth Avenue mistress, a reporter hungry for fame, and make the wrong turn in The Bronx...then sit back and watch the sparks fly."
5.6| 2h5m| R| en| More Info
Released: 21 December 1990 Released
Producted By: Warner Bros. Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

After his mistress runs over a black teen, a Wall Street hotshot sees his life unravel in the spotlight; A down-and-out reporter breaks the story and opportunists clamber to use it to their advantage.

Genre

Drama, Comedy

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Director

Brian De Palma

Production Companies

Warner Bros. Pictures

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The Bonfire of the Vanities Audience Reviews

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Candida It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.
King See As I said, it is very entertaining, funny, interesting and a very good movie! and I couldn't understand why some people criticize and rated it very low, I assure you this is a very entertaining movie I watched in years, brilliant acting, excellent script and it will not let you leave your chair until you finish watching it. I gave it 9 not because I want to bring it up from under-rating, but I actually think it deserves 9/10
Mr-Fusion I've never read the source novel for "Bonfire of the Vanities", so I can't view the film version in an adaptation context. But I can look at this as a movie that features a laundry list of capable actors and a skilled director and ask, "What the hell is this?" All this talent wasted on something so meandering, on-the-nose and comically unfunny? Sherman McCoy is supposed to be an unlikable character, and they go out and cast Tom Hanks? And Melanie Griffith over Uma Thurman? Honestly, this thing was doomed from the first step.On the plus side, Morgan Freeman steals the entire thing (although his percentage of screen time is woefully lacking). And F. Murray Abraham does have the one funny line. That's right, one. The satirical wit herein isn't rapier, but more plastic spoon, and it just makes the whole movie a grind. Some of the worst pacing I've seen in a while.If you do decide to suffer through this wretchedness, immediately go out and read Julie Salamon's "The Devil's Candy", which is one of the most scintillating behind-the-scenes books out there.Unbelievably more rewarding than the movie.3/10
Burnley Vest Thanks to this film, I have now resolved to avoid film adaptations whenever possible. I saw the film on release and walked out of the theatre. Tom Hanks is passable. Melanie Griffith's awful Southern accent is distracting. Bruce Willis is horribly miscast as a wry British journalist. We should be thankful that he doesn't attempt a British accent, but without the outsider status and the subtlety that such a role demands, Willis falls flat. DePalma takes the novel's wry winks and turns them into desperate leers. It's like Steve Martin in character as The Jerk is sitting next to me in the theatre with a laser pointer saying say "LOOK! HOW FUNNY!!!".If I could bring myself to watch the film again, I could go on and on pointing out particular moments that irked me into walking out on this film (something I very rarely do). Fat chance.I realize that many folks out there will have never read Wolfe's excellent book, and if you haven't, this film might work as passable farce. If you HAVE read the book, you will very likely hate this film.
Wizard-8 I have not read the Tom Wolfe novel that this movie is based on, so I can't say for certain how closely this cinematic adaptation follows its source. However, I am sure that the novel would be a more satisfying experience than this movie. I'm pretty sure that the novel got into the heads of the characters more, and spent more time attacking its various targets. Though there are plenty of targets in the movie, the attack on them seems kind of soft and not as savage as it should be. A bigger problem is how the characters are presented. The actors play their parts more often than not in a broad and "funny" manner, which is not that funny at all. The correct way to approach this material would be to play it straight. I don't blame the actors for this - I blame director Brian De Palma for directing his talented cast to act this wrongheaded way.Though the movie is misguided, I didn't find it totally bad as some have made it out to be. I have to admit that as misguided as the movie is, and having a running time of over two hours, I was never BORED while watching it. The core story does unfold in a way that makes you interested in how it will be resolved. So while the movie is definitely a miss, it's not completely awful.