The Bonfire of the Vanities
1990 · 125 min
Directed by Brian De Palma. Written by Michael Cristofer. Starring Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Kim Cattrall.
After his mistress runs over a black teen, a Wall Street hotshot sees his life unravel in the spotlight; A down-and-out reporter breaks the story and opportunists clamber to use it to their advantage.
Critics 15% · audiences 26% · streaming on Roku Channel, YouTube (free), Plex · $16 million in the US and Canada on its first run · about 3.7 million tickets sold, 1.5% of the country
What they said about The Bonfire of the Vanities
- 1990
Brian De Palma's gross, unfunny movie adaptation.
— Vincent Canby, The New York Times - 1990
one of the most indecently bad movies of the year
— Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly - 1990
the director has become one with the buffoons Wolfe scored in his bestseller. He has not only filed Wolfe's teeth but stuck his tail between his legs
— Rita Kempley, The Washington Post - 1990
a calamity of miscasting and commercial concessions
— Rita Kempley, The Washington Post - 1990
preview audiences have hooted the film's revisionist ending, which concludes with a sermon. I didn't hoot because I was too sad. I gave up on the movie well before the ending.
— Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune
How it got made
The novel The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe was a bestseller, and the author sold screen right to Warner Bros. Pictures for $750,000. The film's production was plagued by controversy. Among them were the casting choices. When the project was first pitched and Mike Nichols was attached as the original director, he wanted Steve Martin for the role of Sherman McCoy, but the studio rejected it because they thought Martin was too old for the role leading Nichols to leave the film. Tom Wolfe wanted Chevy Chase for McCoy. Kevin Costner, Tom Cruise and Christopher Reeve were also considered for the role. Adrian Lyne was also considered to direct, but left the film in 1988 when he decided to make Jacob's Ladder instead. Brian DePalma ultimately came on board to direct and offered the role of Peter Fallow to both Jack Nicholson and John Cleese (Fallow was English in the novel), but both actors turned down the role. When De Palma was unable to deliver an actor, the studio forced him to cast Bruce Willis, who had starred in the successful 1988 film Die Hard. De Palma wanted Uma Thurman to play Maria Ruskin. Thurman tested for the role, but Tom Hanks felt that she was not right for the part and, eventually, Melanie Griffith was cast instead.
Walter Matthau was initially offered the role of Judge Myron Kovitsky but demanded a fee of $1 million. The producers balked at meeting his price and signed Alan Arkin instead for a modest $150,000. Arkin was then replaced by Morgan Freeman when the studio decided to change the judge's ethnicity from Jewish to African American in order to respond to criticism of the film's racial politics. The character's name was changed to Leonard White and dialogue was added to have Judge White denounce the manipulative actions of the main characters. De Palma said he "didn't want to racially polarize" the film by having "a white judge talking morality to a basically black audience." Arkin refused to waive his payment after being recast. Edward James Olmos was also considered for the role of Judge White. F. Murray Abraham, who had a significant part in the film, chose not to be credited because of a contract dispute. When he was denied the billing above the title that he had requested, he took his name off the picture.
The studio made significant changes to the source material, making Sherman McCoy (Hanks) more sympathetic and adding a subplot involving a minor character, Judge White (Freeman). Michael Cristofer's original script ended cynically with Henry Lamb (Patrick Malone), the supposed victim of the hit-and-run, walking out of the hospital, suggesting that the whole scenario was concocted. That ending did not test well with audiences and was dropped. The cover of Peter Fallow's book in the film has a similar design to the original first edition of Wolfe's novel from 1987.
At the box office
The film itself was a critical and commercial disappointment when it was released. It cost an estimated US$47 million to make, but initially grossed just over US$15 million at the US box office.