Film adaptation of the Tom Wolfe novel of the same name. Sherman McCoy (Tom Hanks) is a Wall Street millionaire who enjoys the good life and the favors of his gold-digger mistress Maria Ruskin (Melanie Griffith). One night, as the two are driving back to Maria's apartment, Maria makes a wrong turn and the two find themselves in the South Bronx. Maria sees a black youth approaching Sherman's car and guns the engine, running over the teenager and killing him. They drive away and decide not to report the accident. Meanwhile, journalist Peter Fallow (Bruce Willis), anxious for a sensational story, comes upon the youth's death as a rallying point for the local black community. Local district attorney Abe Weiss (F. Murray Abraham) uses the press coverage of the case against Sherman as a way to elevate his own mayoral candidacy. As Sherman is excoriated by the public, the New York community erupts into different factions, all of whom use the case to suit their own purposes. Finally, Sherman is left without any allies to support him except for the sympathetic Judge Leonard White (Morgan Freeman) and the remorseful Fallow.