Opening

78% Fast & Furious 6 May 24
—— The Hangover Part III May 23
—— Epic May 24
95% Before Midnight May 24
83% We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks May 24
—— Fill the Void May 24
—— A Green Story May 24
—— Alyce Kills May 24

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77% 42 $2.7M
56% Oblivion $2.2M
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37% Peeples $2.2M
8% The Big Wedding $1.1M

Coming Soon

—— After Earth May 31
—— Now You See Me May 31
88% The East May 31
100% The Kings of Summer May 31

Vanity Fair (2004)

tomatometer

50

Average Rating: 5.8/10
Reviews Counted: 163
Fresh: 82 | Rotten: 81

A more likable Becky Sharp makes for a less interesting movie.

56

Average Rating: 5.8/10
Critic Reviews: 43
Fresh: 24 | Rotten: 19

A more likable Becky Sharp makes for a less interesting movie.

audience

51

liked it
Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 48,231

My Rating

Movie Info

William Makepeace Thackeray's witty assessment of the British class system, as seen through the experiences of one young woman, is brought to the screen with some serious star power in this period comedy drama. Becky Sharp (Reese Witherspoon) is a bright and ambitious girl born to a poor British family. Becky is determined to make something of herself however she can, and after accepting a job as a nanny for the children of the powerful and aristocratic Sir Pitt Crawley (Bob Hoskins), she wastes

Feb 1, 2005

$16.1M

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All Critics (173) | Top Critics (45) | Fresh (85) | Rotten (84) | DVD (28)

It's lavish but lulling, and at two hours and 18 minutes, it's something of a bore.

September 10, 2004 Full Review Source: New York Observer
New York Observer
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A less than absorbing adaptation of Thackeray's sprawling but sharp-witted classic.

September 10, 2004 Full Review Source: New York Observer
New York Observer
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Scene by scene and moment to moment, it's a woeful misreading of the book.

September 4, 2004 Full Review Source: Salon.com
Salon.com
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Witherspoon moves director Mira Nair's version of Thackeray's social satire forward at a good clip, making Becky's rising and falling fortunes an intensely watchable spectator sport.

September 3, 2004 Full Review Source: Washington Post
Washington Post
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There is no depth beneath its bright surfaces, no potent emotional undercurrents.

September 3, 2004 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine
TIME Magazine
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A charming movie that falls short of greatness, but is still worth a solid recommendation.

September 3, 2004 Full Review Source: ReelViews
ReelViews
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A beautiful adaptation of a literary classic.

December 29, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media

From the ostentatious costumes by designer Beatrix Aruna Pasztor ("Wonder Boys") to the annoying male hairstyles that permeate every scene, "Vanity Fair" is a movie that depends on its overall visual effect to hypnotize audiences into overlooking the film

April 18, 2009 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com
ColeSmithey.com

Yay! England sucks and India is cool! Well, except for that troublesome caste system, of course.

July 25, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com
eFilmCritic.com

In Vanity Fair's universe without heroes, shameless central character Becky Sharp would have surely felt supremely at home stuck on Temptation Island, or in the boardroom of The Apprentice.

June 17, 2007 Full Review
WBAI Web Radio

In Vanity Fair's universe without heroes, shameless central character Becky Sharp would have surely felt supremely at home stuck on Temptation Island, or in the boardroom of The Apprentice.

May 15, 2007 Full Review
Long Island Press

To our utter delight, these stories and messages are told with superb acting, amazing costumes that burst with color and texture, and dazzling locales.

November 10, 2006
Christianity Today

Es una sólida adaptación de la novela de Thackeray por la que bien vale la pena pagar el boleto.

November 27, 2005

Becky's adept maneuvering through upper society's pitfalls is sometimes muddled from too many characters and too little explanation, but Witherspoon remains fun to watch...

April 14, 2005 Full Review Source: Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema
Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema

[Witherspoon] looks and feels out of place in a movie like Vanity Fair, all the more so for its narrative deficiencies.

March 28, 2005 Full Review Source: Now Playing Magazine

Audience Reviews for Vanity Fair

[img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon13.gif[/img]

It's period set pieces are designed pretty well, the costume design is imaginative, and technically, Vanity Fair is kind of excellent. However, i'm not sure if i'm the only one who saw this but Reese Witherspoon's performance is a bit of a mixed bag, sometimes she acts convincingly, but in the more dramatic moments she tends to crack slightly. Also her character, Becca Sharp, like many have said is supposedly dislikable, even if the film managed to make her that way she still wouldn't be that interesting. Mainly due to it's incoherent uncertain style of storytelling. In addition the ending is highly unclimatic and as a whole, the film is just too long. It's not terrible because there are some good supporting performances, such as Tony Maudsley's, but it's often quite dull and lifeless and suffers from various sub plots and a bloated amount of unnecessary characters.
May 26, 2012
Directors Cat
Directors Cat

Super Reviewer

Yuck, just yuck. Long, dull, boring, ridiculous. So much does not make sense about this movie it's ludicrous why Mira Nair would decide to set part of in India. I know part of this is Thackeray's problem and not Nair's, but...seriously?
April 30, 2011
jennifxu

Super Reviewer

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