The Bonfire of the Vanities

In the scathing satire "The Bonfire of the Vanities," Tom Hanks stars as Sherman McCoy, a Wall Street hotshot whose life is turned upside down when he's identified as the hit-and-run driver in a high-profile case involving a black teenager and his white mistress, Maria Ruskin. As the trial unfolds, Peter Fallow (Bruce Willis), an ambitious journalist, uses the case to further his own career, exploiting the chaos for sensational headlines. The film's sharp critique of 1980s excess and racial politics is both biting and thought-provoking, as Judge White (Morgan Freeman) delivers a powerful rebuke to the self-righteous and cynical players in this twisted game of power and corruption.