revealed that he discovered his scenes were cut during the premiere screening. Reception Critics gave the film mixed reviews. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 51% based on 167 reviews, and an average rating of 5.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A more likable Becky Sharp makes for a less interesting movie." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post gave a positive review, calling the movie "Mira Nair's fine movie version of the 1848 book, in all its glory and scope and wit." In the Charlotte Observer, Lawrence Toppman commented that "The filmmakers have wisely retained the main structure of the book" and that "The cast is uniformly good, even when dealing with sudden mood changes forced by the screenwriters' need to move forward." Meanwhile, Lisa Schwarzbaum, in her review in Entertainment Weekly, rated the film a B−, and added that "The dismaying switcheroo in director Mira Nair’s adaptation ... that Botoxes Thackeray’s riotous, unruly masterpiece, is that this "Vanity Fair" is, indeed, genteel and inoffensive. In fact, it borders on perky – a duller, safer tonal choice for the story of a conniving go-getter whose fall is as precipitous as her rise." Soundtrack Mira Nair, the director of the film, searched for good Indian musicians to compose a song for the album, and finally selected the trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy at the last minute. She showed them a rough footage of the situation she wanted them to compose for, which was the last few sequences of the film. The trio used tabla and several other Indian musical instruments for the song, without any synth, to give it an ethnic feel. The song was sung by Shankar, accompanied by Richa Sharma and Jerry McCulley of Celtic Instruments described the song as "a sprightly duet", while SoundtrackNet said the "aforementioned upbeat vocal number Gori Re" is enjoyable in its own way for one who enjoys Indian musical styles. Accolades References External links Review at DecentFilms.com 2004 films 2000s historical romance films 2004 romantic drama films Films set in 1802 American historical romance films American romantic drama films British historical romance films British romantic drama films Films about families Films about social class Films directed by Mira Nair Films based on Vanity Fair (novel) Films