Vanity Fair

A Thackeray classic given added spice by Indian director Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding). As period classics go, this one’s got the usual ingredients. A disadvantaged heroine Becky Sharp (Witherspoon) who in this case is an orphan into social climbing, a dashing military officer (played by James Purefoy), a mysterious man of gentry (Gabriel Byrne), a hopeless devoted romantic who can’t always put his feelings into words (Rhys Ifans) and a former aristocrat down on his luck (Bob Hoskins). Its all about being upwardly mobile and being accepted by a better class.

For much of the film, we’re on the trail to see if Becky Sharpe will make it into the higher echelons of society. Naturally that path isn’t smooth. It’s a worthwhile story which you feel will lead to a great emotional payoff and it’s therefore something of a disappointment when in the final third, it becomes rather too melodramatic for its own good (characters go off to war for example without much explanation of the war itself).

The part of Becky Sharpe is tailor-made for Witherspoon. She often likes to play heroines with a gift of the gab who are the centre of attention around whom other characters revolve. In fact this is a typical Reese Witherspoon role – just imagine her without modern-day costumes and put her and the rest of the cast in period gear and you’ve got it. Its also slightly galling that she’s asked to play a heroine who possesses a major talent in singing if you then find that the singing voice of another actress was dubbed over the top. It makes you wonder why she was given the role in the first place if she was not going to sing the songs that are crucial to her character.

Better performances from the men here – Purefoy, Ifans and Byrne are all good, showing a decent range and hidden depths to their characters. It’s a long film (be prepared for the 2 hours 20 minutes) but if you’re a Thackeray fan or lover of the romantic classics, you may find Nair’s faithful adaptation interesting especially since its been given a slight Bollywood tinge.

Matt Arnoldi