The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)

[SlidePocket 707]

Now somebody posted a different thread with that title, but posted his thoughts about 2011's Drive instead. But now here is the real topic, 1990's The Bonfire of the Vanities.

 

Where to begin with this movie? Tom Hanks's character was supposed to be an unlikable Wall Street tycoon in the book, but his character was rewritten to suit his personality. Bruce Willis's character was British in the novel, but when he got cast, it was changed to an American. Morgan Freeman's character as the judge was originally Jewish, but changed to African-American in the film. Melanie Griffith and Kim Cattrall were also in there, playing Hanks's mistress and wife respectively. Directed by Brian De Palma, this film was an unfaithful retelling of Tom Wolfe's bestseller and there's a tell-all book about the making of that movie called The Devil's Candy by Julie Salamon. If you want to know the details about what the hell is happening behind the scenes, The Devil's Candy is a definite recommendation. The Bonfire of the Vanities is such a mess with a string of miscast performers and terrible writing, that it is no wonder this became a financial and critical bomb.

[sillstaw 414]

I borrowed this from my local library, and halfway through paused to post on Facebook how painful it was.

 

I can only imagine what was going through the minds of the producers when they decided, "You know who needs to direct this satire of 80's Wall Street? The guy who directed 'Scarface,' 'Carrie' and 'The Untouchables!' It'll be a laugh riot!" Not to mention all the above-mentioned changes to the cast of characters.

 

And while Melanie Griffith may have been a lovely woman at one time, she's all wrong as "the devil's candy" (the producer's bizarre term for a femme fatale). She doesn't seem like the kind of woman who'd compel a guy to go out in the pouring rain to make a pay phone call to her, to avoid his wife finding out. "The Devil's Candy" mentions that Uma Thurman and Lena Olin were considered, and they seem like they would've played much better.

[seanotron 2307]

This is basically where Brian De Palma's career went tits-up. He did have some financial successes like Mission Impossible after this, but he never really got his groove back.

[joel_rosenbaum 1269]

God, what a piece of shit this movie was.

 

This was, arguably, a career low for most of its principal players: Brian De Palma, Tom Hanks, and Bruce Willis among them.

 

The only thing this movie had going for it was the opening tracking shot that ludicrously portrays a megastar version of Tom Wolfe.

[RyanSz 3140]

While he did follow this up with Raising Cain which is a good bad movie, Carlito's Way, and Mission: Impossible, he then did HDTGM-worthy movies in Snake Eyes, Mission to Mars (especially if paired with Red Planet), and Femme Fatale, what an amazing downfall.

[joel_rosenbaum 1269]

[Jillybean 104]

Caught this on HBO the other day. Oof. Fans of the book must've been so disappointed when they saw this. It felt seven hours long.

[achoohorsey16 34]

Directed by Brian De Palma

Starring Tom Hanks, Melanie Griffith, and Bruce Willis

Based on the book "Bonfire of the Vanities" by Tom Wolfe

They basically took the book and changed 50% of it to appease test audiences, and then released what was left. The book's subtle commentary on race, money, and society are played up for dark laughs and the casting is atrocious. It's like "Oh no, did we run over that black boy, or was that a tire? UH OH! *sad trumpet*" And maybe it's just me but Willis narrating the movie drives me bonkers. 

Here's the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIz_RlNZZlg (I'm never able to imbed videos in this forum correctly, sorry)

So yeah, holy shit this movie is terrible. 

Here's some second opinions from Amazon([sic] any typos):

"I don't know why this has bad reviews...but at the same time I do. It just does not work in the P.C. 2016. I remember my parents raving about how funny this was since I was a kid. I never stopped laughing! It is extremely politically incorrect to all religions, races and genders equally so even though it is offensive its kinda like south park...its ok cause its mean to everyone. The cast is amazing with Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Morgan Freeman, Kim Catrall just to name a few. It follows a story where an extremely stuck-up super wealthy WASP played by Tom Hanks and his mistress Melanie Griffith take a wrong turn and end up in a very bad area in the South Bronx and chaos ensues. A tragedy happens and someone dies and the Jewish Attorney General played by F. Murry Abraham (from Amadeus who played Salari) go to make an example of Tom Hanks. They have a parody of the reverend Jesse Jackson who is making a fuss. Kim Catrall plays Hanks wife. Morgan Freeman a judge. And I never stopped laughing! Everyone is a stereotype and you just know they would never make this movie in 2016. Wow times have changed!"

"THIS was an early BRUCE movie,who along with TOM HANKS and MELANIE GRIFFITH(BEAUTIFUL) made this black comedy so
enjoyable. BRUCE laidback larconic wise cracking reporter. TOM little rich guy! and MELANIE just being beautiful all came together
to make a terrific movie if you get the chance ENJOY this movie i know i do every TIME - the CUZ"

"This is a really funny movie. It probably wouldn't be made today, it's so politically un-correct. We love it! Had to order this copy because someone borrowed our old one and didn't return it."

 

[achoohorsey16 34]

Oh before I forget - There's a book written about the making of this film, that was published a year after the movie came out, that details its doomed production. It's called The Devil's Candy. 

[GrahamS. 803]

The Devil’s Candy is a hard book to find but it’s a great portrait of how a film can go disastrously wrong.

i saw the movie when I was in high school, then read the book to make sense of the movie but the book was kinda over my head (I was 15 when the movie came out).

i rewatched the movie after finally getting ahold of—and reading—The Devil’s Candy and all I remember about the film itself is that it’s an amazing train wreck.

[GrahamS. 803]

I accidentally liked my own post due to my clumsy thumbs. I will atone by giving myself a hedgehog,

[GrahamS. 803]

Never mind, I was able to remove my entire trail of ill-gotten likes.

[RyanSz 3140]

4 hours ago, achoohorsey16 said:

Oh before I forget - There's a book written about the making of this film, that was published a year after the movie came out, that details its doomed production. It's called The Devil's Candy. 

The book has been in my Amazon recommendation for a while, and I was amazed by some of the things mentioned like how Griffith got a boob job during filming which caused huge issues for filming continuity and how the cast really never gelled with one another on set making it that much harder to complete numerous scenes.