The Bonfire of the Vanities

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Blu B Well...it ain't good but it's not exactly a train wreck either. It just doesn't work well at what it wants to do and I honestly barely think I know what it's going for. Like a black comedy meta court case sort of thing. It's very difficult to tell. The strongest thing is DePalma's direction which is the one good thing here. The camerawork is really good, framing, and production value. The problem is while I get every scene on it's own I don't get really the main story and two, I laughed once. Once and it took 82 minutes in to get to it. The acting of an all star cast isn't good mainly because of the poor and VERY flat and confusing material they are given to work with. Everything is clearly trying but are just weighed down terribly by the flat and confusing material. It's so odd. It's not cringe or Dad humor. It's sort of like out of place and unfunny delivery. This seems to be a running problem with DePalma where he just cna't do comedies very well. It's his crux it seems. The editing and pacing just aren't good because of it and it's not really clear what kind of tone it's going for. Serious delivery but flat humor overlayed just makes it very confusing. This also is particulary jumpy going from Willis's naration which just disappears at times. Hanks and jumping around between other people and it's just not in a very clear way how everything connects. Than the weird speech at the end by Freeman adds a racial commentary which...feels so out of place and makes no sense. Music is boring, generic and forgettable as well. Cinemaography isn't bad though thanks to DePalma with the only problem being the humor just ruining everything. Really is a testament to how strong the direction is. This would be unatchable if it wasn't for that. Skip This regardless. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 09/15/25 Full Review Horror fan 4 Even with an all Star lineup of stars couldn't hold up this movie from eventually sinking. The satire was good but the comedy was hit and mostly miss. Tim Treakle Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/25/25 Full Review redskin s As a journalist for almost 30 years this movie hits painfully close to the mark...this is how it actually works. A brilliant effort by DePalma, one of his best works Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/09/24 Full Review John A Discombobulating adaptation of an 80's best-selling novel. The magnanimous cast and Brian De Palma make this fascinating thematic bonfire of sorts watchable but it is still an ambitious... Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 07/20/23 Full Review Audience Member I used to watch this film on VHS when I was in my early teenage years...An all star cast...Hanks, Willis, Griffith, Cattral even Morgan Freeman & yet they were horrible, some scenes made me laugh but still it's a disaster. 1 of the worst movies I've ever seen. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review J P Worst movie I've ever TRIED to watch; tried 5x and couldn't get through the first part and then fell asleep. 5x Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/22/22 Full Review Read all reviews

The Bonfire of the Vanities

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