This modern-day teen update of Les Liaisons Dangereuses suffered at the hands of both critics and moviegoers thanks to its sumptuous ad campaign, which hyped the film as an arch, highly sexual, faux-serious drama (not unlike the successful, Oscar-nominated Dangerous Liaisons). In fact, Cruel Intentions plays like high comedy for its first two-thirds, as its two evil heroes, rich stepsiblings Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe), blithely ruin lives and reputations with hearts as black as coal.
Kathryn wants revenge on a boyfriend who dumped her, so she befriends his new intended, the gawky Cecile (Selma Blair), and gets Sebastian to deflower the innocent virgin. The meat of the game, though, lies in Sebastian's seduction of good girl Annette (a down-to-earth Reese Witherspoon), who has written a nationally published essay entitled "Why I Choose to Wait." If he fails, Kathryn gets his precious vintage convertible; if he wins, he gets Kathryn--in the sack.
When the movie sticks to the merry ruination of Kathryn and Sebastian's pawns, it's highly enjoyable: Gellar in particular is a two-faced manipulator extraordinaire, and Phillippe, usually a black hole, manages some fun as a hipster Eurotrash stud. Most pleasantly surprising of all is Witherspoon, who puts a remarkably self-assured spin on a character usually considered vulnerable and tortured (see Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Liaisons). Unfortunately, writer-director Roger Kumble undermines everything he's built up with a false ending that's true to neither the reconceived characters nor the original story--revenge is a dish best served cold, not cooked up with unnecessary plot twists. --Mark Englehart, Amazon.com
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Cruel and intelligent teenage drama Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy) stars as Kathryn, a manipulative woman who places a bet with her step brother Sebastian that he can't get the principal's stepdaughter Annette into bed. Based on Choderlos de Laclos' novel, Cruel Intentions brings a dark and sexy tale of lies, manipulation and romance to our screens in a dramatic and diverse way, with superb acting and excellent direction and acting. The lead three actors, Gellar, Phillippe (Flags of our fathers) and Witherspoon (Walk the line) are... more info
overall this is a three star film with a four star ending The humour isn't laugh-out-loud and the dialogue is nothing special but the story builds up in such a way that you want to keep watching if only in the hope that you will see something bad happen to Sarah Michelle Gellar's character.I've never seen her in Buffy The Vampire Slayer but I think she could slay vampires based on this performance.Reese Witherspoon is great as miss goody-two-shoes who gets pushed to the point where her shoes are likely to end up in someone's behind.Overall a three star film with a... more info
Cruel deception Before anyone thinks I'm against this film or its actors, I'm not. This is a
good film and the actors do a pretty good job with the script they have been
given. First of all its script isn't original, Ok it may have been varied a
little but basically its a remake of "Dangerous Liaisons" which starred Glen
Close, John Malkovich etc.. The original for me anyway was far superior in
its intensity and sometimes very emotionally moving scenes. Also the original
was set in... more info
Classic, Bold, Witty! This film is a modern classic; I've never met anyone who hasn't loved this film from start to finish. Despite being set in Manhattan's Upper East Side, you really do feel like your with the characters, as they're living out this wickedly dirty, quite disturbing story. If you don't have this dvd you really really must buy it, for < £4 you really won't regret it.
![Cruel Intentions [1999]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/516GDQ5D6ML._SL160_.jpg)
