It would be apt to quote from the film itself- one of the characters Sir Gerald Moore (Robert Stephens, great comic value even if he's barely in it) says:
'In my house, when a turd appears, we throw it out. We dispose of it. We flush it away. We don't put it on the table and call it caviar'
This film is a stinker. It starts off seeming like it will be an enjoyable comedy of manners amongst the narcissistic rich (the yuppie lifestyle) but instead is a crushing bore with a plot that has as much depth as a CSI episode.
Tom Hanks is miscast as Sherman McCoy- he looks like his character in Big, a boy pretending to be a grown-up. It was initially interesting to see him act against type but because the filmmakers wanted him to use the Tom Hanks charm in order to smooth the sharp edges of Tom Wolfe's novel, it never pays off. Sherman is unlikeable and weak-willed but in no way the 'master of the universe' that he dubs himself, more like a weedy kid.
Melanie Griffiths does a good job of playing his mistress, dumb blonde Maria, but the character is entirely unlikeable (this is a pretty bad film as far as female parts go- there's nothing for either her or Kim Cattrell as Sherman's wife to work with), a whiny Southern gal.
The plot is that Sherman and Maria take a wrong turn and end up in the Bronx, where Maria accidentally runs down a young black teenager. Uproar in the community ensues (very quiet uproar as the black characters are kept firmly in the background) and opportunistic journalist Peter Fallow (Bruce Willis, again doing nothing remarkable with his role) sees a chance for a good story.
There's lots of scenes where people are just standing around having not very interesting conversations- a sure fire way to kill a film with a running time of two hours. Dialogue-heavy films can be great- see 12 Angry Men- but it's just dull. Morgan Freeman as Judge Leonard White has a 'rousing' speech that attempts to be a poor imitation of Alfieri/John Proctor/Portia.
The novel would be much better serviced by a TV adaptation so we actually get to know the large cast of characters and they can actually explore the theme rather than just telling us.
If you feel guilty watching it because you're having a bad time, take solace in that the cast and crew all hated it as well.
This film is a stinker. It starts off seeming like it will be an enjoyable comedy of manners amongst the narcissistic rich (the yuppie lifestyle) but instead is a crushing bore with a plot that has as much depth as a CSI episode.
Tom Hanks is miscast as Sherman McCoy- he looks like his character in Big, a boy pretending to be a grown-up. It was initially interesting to see him act against type but because the filmmakers wanted him to use the Tom Hanks charm in order to smooth the sharp edges of Tom Wolfe's novel, it never pays off. Sherman is unlikeable and weak-willed but in no way the 'master of the universe' that he dubs himself, more like a weedy kid.
Melanie Griffiths does a good job of playing his mistress, dumb blonde Maria, but the character is entirely unlikeable (this is a pretty bad film as far as female parts go- there's nothing for either her or Kim Cattrell as Sherman's wife to work with), a whiny Southern gal.
The plot is that Sherman and Maria take a wrong turn and end up in the Bronx, where Maria accidentally runs down a young black teenager. Uproar in the community ensues (very quiet uproar as the black characters are kept firmly in the background) and opportunistic journalist Peter Fallow (Bruce Willis, again doing nothing remarkable with his role) sees a chance for a good story.
There's lots of scenes where people are just standing around having not very interesting conversations- a sure fire way to kill a film with a running time of two hours. Dialogue-heavy films can be great- see 12 Angry Men- but it's just dull. Morgan Freeman as Judge Leonard White has a 'rousing' speech that attempts to be a poor imitation of Alfieri/John Proctor/Portia.
The novel would be much better serviced by a TV adaptation so we actually get to know the large cast of characters and they can actually explore the theme rather than just telling us.
If you feel guilty watching it because you're having a bad time, take solace in that the cast and crew all hated it as well.