The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
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The story
Sherman McCoy, a wealthy Wall Street bond trader, and his girlfriend Maria Ruskin are involved in a hit-and-run accident in the South Bronx after striking two youths. While Sherman wants to report the incident, Maria pressures him into silence to protect their lifestyle. The case quickly becomes a rallying point for the community, drawing in an alcoholic journalist seeking a career-making story and a District Attorney aiming for the mayor's office. As the investigation intensifies, New York City fragments into various factions, each using the prosecution of the wealthy McCoy to serve their own cynical political and social agendas.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Sherman McCoy, a wealthy Wall Street bond trader, and his girlfriend Maria Ruskin, a Southern belle, are involved in a hit-and-run accident in the South Bronx after striking two youths. While Sherman wants to report the incident, Maria pressures him into silence to protect their lifestyle. The case becomes a media sensation, attracting an alcoholic journalist, Peter Fallow, and a District Attorney, Abe Weiss, who seeks to use the prosecution of the wealthy McCoy to gain political support from minority communities. As the trial progresses, New York City fragments into factions using the case for cynical purposes. Fallow eventually discovers evidence of Maria's perjury through a woman sub-letting an apartment. Sherman manages to play a recording in court that reveals Maria's lies, leading to his acquittal. During the trial, Judge Leonard White delivers a scathing tirade against the self-righteousness of the public and the manipulative actions of the main characters. A year later, Fallow releases a book on the case, and Sherman has moved away to live in obscurity.
- First release year
- 1990
- Runtime (minutes)
- 125
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Brian De Palma
- Writers
- Michael Cristofer · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Tom Hanks · Sherman McCoy; Bruce Willis · Arthur Raskin; Melanie Griffith · Maria Ruskin; Morgan Freeman · Leonard White; Kim Cattrall · Judy McCoy; Patrick Malone · Henry Lamb
- Genres
- satirical black comedy; comedy-drama; business; legal; satirical
- Themes
- avarice; prejudice; criminal injustice; political corruption
- Tone and mood
- satirical; black comedy; cynical
- Premise and plot tags
- hit-and-run; legal drama; media circus; political maneuvering
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe (1987)
- Reception
- The film was a critical and commercial disappointment, panned by critics and underperforming at the box office.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 15% · review count: 54; Metacritic · score: 27 · scale: 100 · review count: 27; CinemaScore · score: C · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The film's production was plagued by controversy, including casting choices for the role of Sherman McCoy.; The studio changed the judge's ethnicity from Jewish to African American to respond to criticism of the film's racial politics.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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