A period piece, this film is based on the classic novel of the same title written by William Makepeace Thackeray and published originally in serial form circa 1847-48.  A peer of Charles Dickens, Thackeray had a similar talent for creating unique and wonderful characters.  The protagonist is Becky Sharp, poorly born, but clever, direct and assertive a hundred years before the feminist movement began.  It is the ageless story about the attraction that all men have to a young woman with energy and vitality.  It is further a story of one woman who uses this beauty as a means to her ends. 

The story begins in London in 1802 and progresses through Napoleon's 1815 return from the island of Elba to invade France and suffer defeat at Waterloo.  The screenplay encompasses about a generation in the lives of the characters, ending in the 1820s. 

Thackeray subtitled his book, A Novel without a Hero.  It is also a novel without a villain unless you call the vicissitudes of life villainy.  There is avarice, power lust, hedonism, sensuality, arrogance and bluster.  There is also loyalty, honesty, faithfulness and love.  Essentially, this is a story about the human condition that we all know and in that sense it is as timely today as it was in the nineteenth century. 

The quality of this production is excellent, reminiscent of the many PBS Masterpiece Theater works.  In fact you will recognize some of the support actors like Jim Broadbent (Mr. Osborne) and Geraldine McEwan (Lady Southdown) who recently starred in Agatha Christie's Miss Marple PBS series.  But in general, the support acting is outstanding.

Reese Witherspoon plays Becky Sharp.  She carries the role with all the energy and vitality it needs to be a perfect rendition of this fictional person.  She literally sparkles as Becky.  It's a joy to watch her.  She is not a beautiful woman, but her love of life and her voracious enthusiasm transforms her into a femme fatale.  In one scene, she trips carrying a rug and falls rolling on it in the street.  The Marquess of Steyne passing on horseback is smitten with such force, I fully expected him to leap off his horse and roll on the rug with her.

The story is a nineteenth century soap opera, but it's also a document of an era, its formality, its repressions, its customs, its trials and its human relationships.

There is reference early in the story to Johnson's dictionary.  It's significant to note because it was the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language and Samuel Johnson published it in 1755, a half century earlier than this story.  It was a pivotal event in English literature and his dictionary became a standard for many years.

Reviewed June 30, 2005                            Copyright 2005 Charles T. Markee

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some sensuality/partial nudity and a brief violent image.