Bright Young Things Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)September 7th, 2004
BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2004 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): **
Welcome to the Rich and Frivolous. Based on novelist Evelyn Waugh's "Vile Bodies," BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS is a would-be comedy of manners that has few, if any, genuine, sincere or funny moments. The story's idle rich squander their money, and some, like central character Adam Symes (Stephen Campbell Moore), are actually flat broke but busy spending funds that they don't have. A typical and unbelievable scene has Adam giving all the cash he has in the world, a newly won thousand pounds, to a drunken major (Jim Broadbent) he has just met so that the major can place a bet on a horse, a long shot playing 20 to 1. Of course, the major and all of Adam's fortune disappear shortly thereafter.
In this English costume drama, set in what appears to be the age of the flapper, the cars are long and the costumes are colorful. The characters, however, are uniformly shallow and silly, and the dialog is peppered with lots of clichés such as "That will never do" and "I know you, but I don't know you."
When one of the story's vapid characters decides to committee suicide, don't be surprised if you find that you couldn't care less. This insufferable and inconsequential film finally comes to its obvious end, only to decide that it wants to graft another half a decade of events onto an already labored plot. Audiences would be well advised to walk out at the first ending, if not sooner.
BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS runs a tediously long 1:46. It is rated R for "some drug use" and would be acceptable for teenagers.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday September 10, 2004. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the Camera Cinemas.
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Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
