Vanity Fair (PG, 137 mins) Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Bob Hoskins, Eileen Atkins, Romola Garai, James Purefoy, Gabriel Byrne, Jonathan Rhys Meyers Director: Mira Nair
"REVENGE may be wicked, but it's perfectly natural!"
So says scheming Becky Sharp (Reese Witherspoon) to her best friend Amelia Sedley (Romola Garai) in Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray's classic novel of shameless social climbing in the early 19th century.
But can this classic be pulled off successfully by Hollywood?
It's a sumptuous spectacle. Witherspoon devours the chance to portray one of literature's greatest female characters, throwing herself into the role with gusto and an impeccable cut-glass English accent.
She is supported by a fine ensemble cast, including Bob Hoskins and Eileen Atkins in imperious form as the domineering matriarch with a seemingly endless arsenal of biting insults and one-liners.
Screenwriters Matthew Faulk, Mark Skeet and Julian Fellowes, the latter traversing similar territory to his Oscar-winning Gosford Park, revel in the richness of Thackeray's text.
"I had thought her a mere social climber. I see now she's a mountaineer," snipes Amelia's mother.
