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The corsets and high waists of the 19th century meet the lush colors and
visual splendor of India in Vanity Fair, a classic novel translated into modern
celluloid by Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding). The very contemporary Reese
Witherspoon (Legally Blonde, Election) at first seems to hit the wrong note as
Becky Sharp, an orphaned girl who rises to the heights of society using her
quick wits and feminine wiles. But as Vanity Fair unfolds, the movie`s tone
embraces both period decor and modern attitudes, searching for a bridge
that will carry us more deeply into a different time. It isn't wholly successful--
the movie`s end wraps things up awkwardly--but some scenes achieve a
surprising and vivid immediacy, in particular one in which Becky`s gambler
husband (elegant James Purefoy) catalogues his worth for her before going
off to the Napoleonic battlefields; love and pragmatism fuse with
heartbreaking results.