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The Bonfire of the Vanities

  • 19901990
  • RR
  • 2h 5m
IMDb RATING
5.6/10
25K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
Home Video Trailer from Warner Home Video
Play trailer2:08
2 Videos
56 Photos
  • Comedy
  • Drama
  • Romance

After his mistress runs over a young teen, a Wall Street hotshot sees his life unravel in the spotlight and attracts the interest of a down-and-out reporter.After his mistress runs over a young teen, a Wall Street hotshot sees his life unravel in the spotlight and attracts the interest of a down-and-out reporter.After his mistress runs over a young teen, a Wall Street hotshot sees his life unravel in the spotlight and attracts the interest of a down-and-out reporter.

IMDb RATING
5.6/10
25K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Brian De Palma
  • Writers
    • Michael Cristofer(screenplay)
    • Tom Wolfe(novel)
  • Stars
    • Tom Hanks
    • Bruce Willis
    • Melanie Griffith
Top credits
  • Director
    • Brian De Palma
  • Writers
    • Michael Cristofer(screenplay)
    • Tom Wolfe(novel)
  • Stars
    • Tom Hanks
    • Bruce Willis
    • Melanie Griffith
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 167User reviews
    • 45Critic reviews
    • 27Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 5 nominations

    Videos2

    Bonfire of the Vanities
    Trailer 2:08
    Bonfire of the Vanities
    What Roles Has Tom Hanks Turned Down?
    Video 3:22
    What Roles Has Tom Hanks Turned Down?

    Photos56

    Tom Hanks and Melanie Griffith in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
    Don Johnson at an event for The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
    Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson at an event for The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
    Edward Van Halen at an event for The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
    The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
    Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, and Melanie Griffith in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
    Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, and Melanie Griffith in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
    Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, and Melanie Griffith in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
    Tom Hanks, Andre Gregory, and Adina Winston in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
    Tom Hanks, Kirsten Dunst, and Donald Moffat in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
    Tom Hanks in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
    Tom Hanks in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Tom Hanks
    Tom Hanks
    • Sherman McCoyas Sherman McCoy
    Bruce Willis
    Bruce Willis
    • Peter Fallowas Peter Fallow
    Melanie Griffith
    Melanie Griffith
    • Maria Ruskinas Maria Ruskin
    Kim Cattrall
    Kim Cattrall
    • Judy McCoyas Judy McCoy
    Saul Rubinek
    Saul Rubinek
    • Jed Krameras Jed Kramer
    Morgan Freeman
    Morgan Freeman
    • Judge Leonard Whiteas Judge Leonard White
    John Hancock
    John Hancock
    • Reverend Baconas Reverend Bacon
    Kevin Dunn
    Kevin Dunn
    • Tom Killianas Tom Killian
    Clifton James
    Clifton James
    • Albert Foxas Albert Fox
    Louis Giambalvo
    Louis Giambalvo
    • Ray Andruittias Ray Andruitti
    Barton Heyman
    Barton Heyman
    • Det. Martinas Det. Martin
    Norman Parker
    Norman Parker
    • Det. Goldbergas Det. Goldberg
    Donald Moffat
    Donald Moffat
    • Mr. McCoyas Mr. McCoy
    Alan King
    Alan King
    • Arthur Ruskinas Arthur Ruskin
    Beth Broderick
    Beth Broderick
    • Caroline Heftshankas Caroline Heftshank
    Kurt Fuller
    Kurt Fuller
    • Pollard Browningas Pollard Browning
    Adam LeFevre
    Adam LeFevre
    • Rawlie Thorpeas Rawlie Thorpe
    Richard Libertini
    Richard Libertini
    • Ed Rifkinas Ed Rifkin
    • Director
      • Brian De Palma
    • Writers
      • Michael Cristofer(screenplay)
      • Tom Wolfe(novel)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    Financial "Master of the Universe" Sherman McCoy sees his life unravel when his mistress Maria Ruskin hits a Black boy with his car. When journalist Peter Fallow enflames public opinion with a series of distorted tabloid articles on the accident, the case is seized upon by opportunists like Reverend Bacon and mayoral candidate D.A. Abe Weiss. —Jon Reeves <jreeves@imdb.com>
    • phone booth
    • tire
    • reverend
    • church
    • reference to don juan
    • 265 more
    • Plot summary
    • Plot synopsis
    • Taglines
      • 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.
    • Genres
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Romance
    • Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
      • Rated R for language
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Steadicam operator Larry McConkey coordinated the complex, nearly 5-minute opening tracking sequence that included a cramped ride in a service elevator. It was the first of McConkey's collaborations with Brian De Palma.
    • Goofs
      When McCoy gets off the subway, he is riding the number 1 train and he gets off at 77th Street station. The number 1 train runs on the West Side of Manhattan, nowhere near his Park Avenue residence on the East Side, and there are no 77th Street stops on the number 1 line.
    • Quotes

      Judge Leonard White: [to court room] Racist? You dare call me racist? Well I say unto you, what does it matter the color of a man's skin if witnesses perjure themselves. If a prosecutor enlists the perjurers. When a district attorney throws a man to the mob for political gain, and men of the cloth, men of God, take the prime cuts? Is that justice?

      Judge Leonard White: I don't hear you...

      Judge Leonard White: Let me tell you what justice is. Justice is the law, and the law is man's feeble attempt to set down the principles of decency. Decency! And decency is not a deal. It isn't an angle, or a contract, or a hustle! Decency... decency is what your grandmother taught you. It's in your bones! Now you go home. Go home and be decent people. Be decent.

    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Havana/Mermaids/The Sheltering Sky/Awakenings/The Long Walk Home (1990)
    • Soundtracks
      Pennies From Heaven
      Written by Johnny Burke and Arthur Johnston

    User reviews167

    Review
    Top review
    4/10
    Fails to grasp the subtle satire of Tom Wolfe's novel
    Tom Wolfe's sprawling novel about the aftershocks of a hit-and-run in 1980's New York set out to capture the corruption and self- promotion that seemed to dominate the decade, with every power player in the city, and every hanger-on trying to achieve personal triumph, latching on to the media and cultural frenzy to benefit their own personal agenda. It's a remarkable novel; bleakly hilarious but meticulously detailed. A movie adaptation was always going to be dangerous territory, and Brian De Palma's resulting film, that flopped both critically and commercially, is a confused mess. The complete failure of the film may be somewhat cruel and not wholly deserved, but De Palma goes for all-out comedy, failing to grasp Wolfe's subtle satire completely.

    Tom Hanks plays self-styled 'master of the universe' Sherman McCoy, a Wall Street broker who enjoys every material comfort that life can offer, living in his huge apartment with his ditsy wife Judy (Kim Cattrall). During an eventful night with his mistress Maria Ruskin (Melanie Griffith), they take a wrong turn while heading back to her apartment and end up in South Bronx. Sherman gets out of the car to clear the road when he is approach by two black youths, and a misunderstanding leads to Ruskin accidentally running one of them over. They flee the scene, but once the story of a rich white man almost killing a poor black kid breaks, the likes of Reverend Bacon (John Hancock), a Harlem religious and political leader, Jewish district attorney Abe Weiss (F. Murray Abraham) and hard-drinking journalist Peter Fallow (Bruce Willis) rear their heads to twist the ongoing s**t-storm to their own benefit.

    Despite some nice tracking shots and sets that really do capture the tacky glamour of the 80's, the movie's biggest downfall is the casting. The two leads, Hanks and Willis, are woefully miscast. McCoy is a loathsome character, a WASP-ish high-roller in an increasingly capitalist country, but Hanks is one of the most likable actors around. He looks visibly uncomfortable in a thinly- written role, and only takes control of his character in a scene in which he clears his apartment by unloading a shotgun played mainly for laughs, which at this stage of his career was Hanks's shtick. Fallow in the novel is a manipulative con-man, twisting the unravelling story through his newspaper in order to keep his job and make a nice paycheck along the way. But De Palma only seems to have picked up on his heavy drinking, meaning that Willis swings a bottle around and narrates the story, playing the role of spoon-feeder without playing an active role in story or convincing as someone who could get to his position.

    But then again, De Palma's movie doesn't exist in the real world. Arguably, the ensemble of characters in Wolfe's novel were caricatures, but they were well-rounded characters, and being inside their heads meant that we could understand their motives, something the movie entirely ignores. So we get the likes of Bacon, Weiss, lawyer Tom Killian (Kevin Dunn) and Assistant District Attorney Kramer (Saul Rubinek), all key players in the novel, reduced to scowling or bumbling onlookers, while McCoy squirms for our amusement and Fallow tells us what we're supposed to be thinking. Occasionally its an all-out pantomime, which would be forgivable it was funny or insightful. Yet when Wolfe calls for pantomime at the climax, the movie delivers a ridiculous speech spoken by Judge White (Morgan Freeman), informing us that decency is what your grandmother taught you.

    www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com
    helpful•21
    9
    • tomgillespie2002
    • Apr 13, 2015

    FAQ1

    • What does the title mean?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 21, 1990 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Вогнище марнославства
    • Filming locations
      • 346 E 59th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
    • Production company
      • Warner Bros.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $47,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $15,691,192
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $4,216,063
      • Dec 25, 1990
    • Gross worldwide
      • $15,691,192
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 5 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

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    Nov 16Variety Film + TV
    Watch: De Palma's 'Most Difficult Shot in Movie History' Video Essay
    Watch: De Palma's 'Most Difficult Shot in Movie History' Video Essay
    Sep 27firstshowing.net

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