Bright Young Things Movie Review 2003

Actor/director/writer Stephen Fry tackles literary satire with his adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's 1930 novel, "Vile Bodies." And if not precisely vile, those bodies are wicked indeed as seen through the everyman eyes of Adam (Moore), a poor aspiring novelist-turned-gossip columnist who wishes to marry superficial party girl Nina (Mortimer). Fry breezily tackles the jaded, flapper milieu of upper-class London between the wars that lends itself to glitter and eccentricity, embodied by feckless social butterflies (Woolgar) and drug-taking peers (the gentlemanly 94-year-old Sir John Mills doing a little coke in a cameo). These bored young things are bright only in the way they briefly shine before drab reality takes over. They (and the viewer) may as well enjoy it while they can.

Distribution

New Line Home Video, 116 N. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048, Phone: (310)854-5811, Fax: (310)854-1824, URL: http://www.newline.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on DVD
Running time 106 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Comedy Drama, Books to Film: Evelyn Waugh, Period Piece: 1920s, London, Writers

Screenplay

Stephen Fry

Cast

Emily Mortimer, James McAvoy, Michael Sheen, David Tennant, Fenella Woolger, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Broadbent, Simon Callow, Jim Carter, Stockard Channing, Richard E. Grant, Julia McKenzie, Peter O'Toole, Stephan Campbell Moore

Cinematography

Henry Braham

Director

Stephen Fry

Music

Anne Dudley

Other

Jim Greenhorn, Alex Mackie, Lynne Huitson, Nic Ede, Michael Howells

Producer

Gina Carter, Miranda Davis, Miranda Davis, Revolution Films, Icon Film Distribution