1/5 Becky Dull : The Castration of Vanity Fair
  by S. sunshine (San Francisco, California)
I know it is very very late to critique this film. The horse has long since left the barn and the farm but when a film is this atrocious an additional warning cannot be amiss. The performances, cinematography, etc. are exactly as you expect them to be for a film this expensive. But it is all for naught. The screenplay and the idea behind it are so awful that no amount of technical excellence could salvage it. A collection of morons decided to extract the heart of Becky Sharp. The very thing that has kept people reading her adventures for 200+ years was judged as inadequately upbeat for the American public. It is a deeply insulting film. Their Becky is sweet. Vanity Fair is a cinematic hatchet job; they gut Becky.

1/5 Vanity Fair
  by John D. Jackson (Smalltown, Indiana)
This movie looks beautful, acting is fantatic, screenplay..sucks. It's long, boring and somewhat confusing.
I only bought it for Robert Pattinson. He is only in the extra's the alternate ending.Vanity Fair (Widescreen)

1/5 Rendition of Famous Novel Undeserving of Vanity Fair Title
  by A. Miller (CA, USA)
Thackeray entitled his book Vanity Fair in reference to the Vanity Fair from another famous book, Pilgrim's Progress where the travelers encountered a fair that indulged one's vanity thereby becoming distracted & losing sight of their ultimate destination. This movie doesn't match the title nor the novel.

First off, I was instantly turned off by the cast of characters. George Osborne looked like a spiked-hair surfer dude in Victorian covering. Amelia was too peppy and flamboyant to be the sedate,soft-spoken, shy, and very serious girl we know as Amelia. Rawdon's actor could somewhat fit the part except he did not develop from the charming, obnoxious rake into the reformed husband and loving father that made his character so enduring and tragic. And finally, Rebecca Sharp was supposed to be a crafty, devious, deceptive, yet charming, talented little actress that leaves the audience second guessing her true intensions, making you loving her, yet despising her. She was a snake, selfish and self-indulgent. No matter how talented Reese Witherspoon is or becomes, her sweet, button-nosed, baby-doll face cannot represent the Rebecca Sharp of William Thackeray's novel. Who's great idea was it to have Reese play this part anyway? Do these people put any thought into casting such a great and formidable novel?

Reese as Becky was charactered as a poor little nobody who was struggling against her station against the harsh, arrogant, excusiveness of the upper-middle to the upper echelon's of there society. Portrayed (inaccurately) as the poor victim who eventually becomes prey to the omnious, powerful, almost vampiric manipulation of Lord Styne, then falsely accused by her husband, Rawdon, of adultery to Lord Styne when he was portrayed more as forcing himself and his will upon her. Lord Styne was supposed to be a buck-teethed, extremely bored, almost baffoonish man with a long ancestrial history of aristocracy, who was bewitched by a very captivating Becky, who was able to acquire a whole lot of money, in which she hid from Rawdon, purposefully, and failed to bail him out of debtor's prison intentionally so as to have alone-time with her Lord Styne.

And what is with the mystical, sultry exotic portrayal of India? First with the park Becky, Amelia attended with Jos Sedley (Amelia's brother) which was adorned to mimic India with their Indian scarfs & animals & decors? Then with showing Major Dobbin during his tenure in India, how he became almost wild in look and behavior, almost as though he became one with the beasts of India. What has THAT have to do with the story? Nor was such a thing alluded to in the book because that was probably not a typical experience of a British military man stationed in India. They were there to manage the colony not have some kind of mystic spiritual experience.

During the entire movie, I squirmed, sighed, groaned, got up and did chores because I just couldn't stand it anymore! I watched the entire movie even though I wanted to abandon it during the first 15 minutes, solely so I could give this negative review. I recommend the A&E version of this movie. That movie was true to the book, characters fit perfectly, and the movie stood on its own in story and plot.

3/5 Sumptious But Sketchy and TOO DARK!!
  by L. B. Kestner (Swampwaters, LA USA)
I did enjoy the color and pageantry of this version of Vanity Fair BUT the story was confusing and sketchy, especially for anyone who has not read the book. Becky Sharp is a character you love to hate! She was wicked and conniving and treated her son with appalling neglect and even cruelty. She would stoop to anything to further her position regardless of who, what, when or where! There were elements of this DVD which were enjoyable. I just viewed it as another period story with pretty costumes and lovely songs.

I would like to know if anyone else received a copy which was SO DARK you could barely make out who was in some scenes and where the scenes took place. I have read all of the 1, 2, and 3 star reviews without seeing a single remark about the DVD's quality...I know some purists will blow a gasket about my query, but I have been told by the seller to "adjust my TV"...which I tried to do with no visibly different results. I would appreciate anyone with feedback or advice on this issue. Thanks!

4/5 Reese Fan
  by S. Hinson (Cabot, Arkansas USA)
I loved this movie. Reese was such a great actress. She made you root for the character even though she brought most of the trouble to herself. I wish they would have left in the alternate ending. I like the idea of her being reunited with her son and being part of a family again. In the end family is all she really needed.