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Actors: Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Kim Cattrall, Morgan Freeman, F. Murray Abraham
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about The Bonfire of the Vanities |
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Tom Hanks stars as a financier who appears to have it all. Then one night his mistress (Griffith) runs over a young black man in an alley. This stirs up racial tensions even more in a city where corrupt politicians and policemen are exploiting minority issues for their own gain. Morgan Freeman is electrifying as the judge who won't stand for any of that in his courtroom, but it's journalist Peter Fallow (Bruce Willis) who writes tabloid style articles aimed at pitting the public against Sherman McCoy (Hanks). Soon all sides are bitterly fighting in this 80's era court drama.
--Alex Emborsky, Resident Scholar
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Sherman McCoy (Hanks) is on top of the world when his mistress Maria Ruskin (Griffith) kills a black youth in a hit-and-run accident. Tabloid journalist Peter Fallow (Willis) pursues the story and arouses fierce public opinion with a series of sensational news articles, and other opportunists like the Reverend Bacon (John Hancock) and District Attorney Abe Weiss (Abraham), who wants to run for mayor, jump on the bandwagon. This 1990 disaster was not a suitable story for director Brian DePalma: the satire and ironies of Tom Wolfe's bestselling novel about the greed, lust, and vanity of the Me Decade '80s was mostly turned into a broad drama with laughs and mostly caricatures. Most of the principle roles were probably miscast, as well. Watch for Alan King, George Plimpton, Richard Belzer, Camryn Manheim, Geraldo Rivera, and 8-year-old Kirsten Dunst in the mammoth supporting cast.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of The Bonfire of the Vanities |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Comedy, primarily
Yes
Time/era of movie:
- 1980's-1999
Kind of comedy
- political satire
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- business executive
Age:
- 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) average
Events of movie makes character more...
- sad
- tougher
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
- hard edged
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- blonde
Hair style
- (woman) short/butch/lez
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn wavey
Body type
- (woman) ample bosom & buttocks
How much in movie?
- 60%
- 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- journalist
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 60%
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) very short/crewcut
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) average
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
- dirty, grimy (like New York)
- wealthy
- rude people
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Movie makes you feel...
- challenged
- frustrated
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- kissing
- touching of personal anatomy
- actual description of sex
- sex under blankets
Any profanity?
- Some foul language
If soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Jazz/r&b
Is this movie based on a
- book
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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