The kitties are back after taking the whole summer off from the movie review biz. September is here and the new fall movie 'buzz' has already started. We, along with the kittymistress, look forward to some really good viewings in the next few months.
Our first 'fall' movie was Vanity Fair with Reese Witherspoon as the social climbing Becky Sharpe. Now, we knew beforehand that most critics have savaged this movie but that didn't stop us from enjoying every danged minute of it (over two hours).
The costumes are gloriously colourful in sumptious golds, burgundies and sequins. The gentlemen were handsome and the settings were picturesque. The story, though, did not seem to really capture our imaginations. Both Becky and her ne'er do well gambler husband, Rawdon (James Purefoy) should have been characters who we all love to hate but it was hard to dislike either one of the grasping, greedy duo because they were being played by such likable and attractive actors. Reese's stubbornly set chin should have been seen as Becky's folly but I found it cute. By the end of the movie, we all felt like clawing the loyal William Dobbin (Rhys Ifans) and slapping the silly Amelia (Romola Garai) who was so blindly in love with the foppish (and dead) George Osborne (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) that she almost missed her one chance at true love.
Good performances by Jim Broadbent as Mr. Osborne, Bob Hoskins as Sir Pitt Crawley and Eileen Atkins as Miss Matilda Crawley.
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