From the desk of The Movie Snob.

Vanity Fair (B-). I never read the novel on which this movie was based, so I can't compare the two. I hear that the movie makers made a bunch of changes, so English majors beware. Anyhoo, the setting is England in the Napoleonic era, and Reese Witherspoon is Becky Sharp, a young woman born without status or wealth. She is determined to acquire both, spawning the two major conflicts in the film. Will she be crushed by the formidable forces of aristocracy deployed against her? What (and whom) is she willing to sacrifice to achieve acceptance by society? (In one memorable quip, another character remarks of her that she is no social climber -- she's a mountaineer.) If you like period pieces, and you are willing to overlook a few wrong notes here and there, you'll like this flick. Also features Romola Garai, who was so excellent in last year's I Capture the Castle, and a nice performance by tall, gangly Rhys Ifans of Notting Hill.