The Bonfire of the Vanities

1990

Action / Comedy / Drama / Romance

26
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 26% · 54 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 26% · 10K ratings
IMDb Rating 5.6/10 10 28251 28.3K

journalist black people success lovers bad luck broker

Plot summary

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.

Director

Brian De Palma Photo
Brian De Palma

Top cast

Tom Hanks Photo
Tom Hanks as Sherman McCoy
Morgan Freeman Photo
Morgan Freeman as Judge Leonard White
Richard Libertini Photo
Richard Libertini as Ed Rifkin
Kirsten Dunst Photo
Kirsten Dunst as Campbell McCoy
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
1.06 GB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
2 hr 5 min
Seeds 10
2.02 GB
1904*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
2 hr 5 min
Seeds 37

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by triple8 7 / 10

What was wrong with this movie to get such bad reviews? I actually liked it.

Bonfire of the vanities. A movie that has the reputation of being awful. I didn't think so. I saw it a long time ago but liked it. I have heard so much about how bad this movie was and never understood why. It isn't the best movie definitely not but there are so many BAD movies-this movie had a message (a pretty sad one) and the story was Involving. My attention was captured. I wanted to see what would happen next.This movie is so true to life. There ARE people out there whose actions would be worse then some in this movie. People whose lives are motivated by greed. (The worst bad movie out there that I've seen that tells the story of truly horrendous people motivated by greed and power is "in the company of men". Much more unpleasant then this movie.) This movie, I GUESS is controversial, not considered as good as the book and maybe it was ahead of its time. I think it's worth seeing though and would give it a 7.
Reviewed by a-mar 6 / 10

Deserves a better pitch and a better rating

The back cover for the DVD calls this movie "hilarious" and "the quintessential story of the go-for-it '80s." In truth, it is neither. The Bonfire of the Vanities is, however, funny in parts, poignant in parts, and entertaining throughout.The protagonist is Sherman McCoy, a man whose one fatal flaw (an affair we know of from the beginning) leads to the downfall from his envious position as a "Master of the Universe." Tom Hanks gives an excellent performance and shows real emotion in bringing this highly plausible character to life. Unfortunately, his character is the only one with enough depth to be realistic. Even Morgan Freeman's Judge White, representing a refreshing dose of intelligence and honesty in the film, is perhaps too good to be believed. All of the other characters are mere caricatures, appearing too greedy, too pretentious, too self-absorbed, or too flighty to be believed. Bruce Willis might have made himself an exception as well, but I feel he simply lacked enough screen time to flesh out the different faces he had to show.Nevertheless the story is very well told. If the other characters appear less than convincing, accept them as colorful background for McCoy, who is the real focus anyway. There are numerous laughs, and the other characters represent elements that are definitely present in society - even if not to the extent shown here. Wolfe's story is entertaining enough to make this movie worth seeing. And it might even make you think twice about the names you see next time you open a newspaper.7 / 10 stars.
Reviewed by FilmLabRat 7 / 10

Excellent satire

Profound exploration of the anatomy and course of a greedy, ambitious and self-centered life, in its various forms (through several characters with unique forms of greed and ambition and lust). Various people get their just dues in humorous, often unexpected ways. Really satisfying and clever movie.
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