Vanity Fair

The movie misses novelist William Makespeace Thackeray's insights into vanity | Marvin Olasky

Devotees of novelist William Makespeace Thackeray generally don't like the film of Vanity Fair that opened on Sept. 1, despite its gorgeous cinematography, costuming, and sets.

Their irritation comes not because the film jumps around a lot and brings in the Indian sensibility of director Mira Nair: The 1848 book is 900 pages long so the movie needs to move quickly, and Thackeray was born in Calcutta.

Their irritation is not because the film is rated PG-13 for some sensuality/partial nudity and a brief violent image. Thackeray made it clear that protagonist Becky Sharp was sleeping her way to the top.

The essential problem, they say, is that this film makes her more hit upon than hitting. The novel's Becky Sharp is essentially a villainess, preying on the seriously ill and sending men to their deaths. The movie's Becky Sharp is a heroine, a poor but ambitious orphan who does what she has to do. Played by the excellent Reese Witherspoon, she is of course a sympathetic character.