You Dont Think the Future Knows How to Cross A Bridge: Relighting The Bonfire of the Vanities | F

And yet, is it possible that the film is not entirely deserving of that reputation? Is there a chance that, 30 years down the line, enough time has passed and rubble has cleared away to reveal it to be an undeniably flawed but nevertheless ambitious attempt to film a book that many had considered to be all but unfilmable? Could it be that some of the very elements that were so heavily criticized back in 1990 now oddly work in its favor after all? Is it possible that, despite all the glaring artistic mistakes and lapses in judgement and missed opportunities on display, “The Bonfire of the Vanities” is, if not an unsung masterpiece, a wobbly-but-intriguing work that might actually be better than its reputation as an all-time disaster might suggest?

Possibly.

The film tells the story of Sherman McCoy (Tom Hanks), a modern-day Master of the Universe who, as the narrative opens, seems to have it all—a wildly lucrative job as a Wall Street bond trader, a lavish apartment, a socialite wife, Judy (Kim Cattrall), an adorable daughter (Kirsten Dunst in one of her first roles) and, most significantly for the purposes of the story, a gorgeous mistress in the form of Maria Ruskin (Melanie Griffith), the hot-to-trot trophy wife of wealthy businessman Arthur Ruskin (Alan King). One night, after picking Maria up at the airport to drive her to the apartment that she sublets on the sly for her assignations, Sherman winds up missing the off-ramp into Manhattan and a wrong turn lands him in the “war zone” that is the South Bronx. While trying to remove a tire from the road in order to get back on the expressway, Sherman is approached by two black teenagers and a panicking Maria takes the wheel. In the ensuing chaos, Maria goes into reverse and appears to hit one of the two teens, Henry Lamb, before she and Sherman speed away. A remorseful Sherman wants to report the incident to the police, but Maria talks him out of it by reminding him that doing so would expose their affair (which he has already inadvertently revealed to Judy) to the gossip-hungry world. And, besides, she was the one driving the car at the time anyway.

Things go into overdrive when Henry, who was initially treated at the hospital for a broken wrist, is diagnosed with a concussion and slips into a coma, though not before giving a description of the car and a partial license plate number. While the victim lies unconscious and is deemed not likely to recover, a number of people from all walks of life use his plight to further their own agendas. The Reverend Bacon (John Hancock), a firebrand preacher with just a slight resemblance to Al Sharpton, uses the accident as a way to call attention to the racial inequities in the system and to gain more publicity and funds for himself in the bargain. Peter Fallow (Willis), a dissolute journalist working for a local tabloid, stumbles into the story and his coverage only fans the flames further within the black community. Abe Weiss (F. Murray Abraham), the Bronx District Attorney currently in the middle of a tough re-election year, is painfully aware that most of the people that he prosecutes are black or Hispanic and when it comes to attention that Sherman—the very epitome of white privilege—was very likely the hit-and-run driver, he instructs Assistant D.A. Jed Kramer (Saul Rubinek) to make an example of him to show the public that his office treats everyone the same.

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