Vanity Fair (2004)

Whitewashed version of Thackery's novel directed by Mira Nair, who manages to shoehorn Indian characters, locations, anything Indian into every film of hers I've seen. Rented this because Andrew had recently read the book and loved it. According to him, the Becky Sharp character (Reese Witherspoon, whose British accent comes and goes with every sentence) was a lot more bitchy, unlikable, ambitious (in other words, interesting) in the book. For crying out loud, the subtitle of the book is "A novel with no hero." I'm sure you know that kind of sardonicism doesn't fly in the movies, they had to make her the heroine. Anyone who likes the novel should stay away. Anyone who likes movies should stay away as well. Dull script, clunky direction, unsure performances...my ass began to itch around the thirty minute mark.