Cruel Intentions is a 1999 American feature film starring Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair. The movie is a comedic and dramatic appropriation of the 18th-century French epistolary novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Laclos, but unlike other modern film versions of the novel set in the France of that time (such as Dangerous Liaisons and Valmont), Cruel Intentions is set among the wealthy teenagers living in modern New York City. The plot is mainly driven by a bet held between the two main characters, and it heavily involves manipulation, seduction, and love in a rich and sophisticated socially elite youth atmosphere. The film started as an independent film with a much smaller budget, and was later picked up by Columbia Pictures. The film was released on March 5, 1999. It was later followed by two direct-to-video films: a prequel, Cruel Intentions 2, and a sequel, Cruel Intentions 3.The blu-ray was released on June 12, 2007.
Plot
Kathryn Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Gellar), the image of social perfection, takes the sheltered and naïve Cecile Caldwell (Selma Blair) under her wing, promising to turn Cecile into a model student like herself. Kathryn's real intention, however, is to take revenge on Court Reynolds, her ex-lover, who dumped her for the "innocent little twit" Cecile. She intends to corrupt Cecile by getting her to sleep with as many men as possible, thereby destroying her reputation and teaching Court a lesson.
She asks for the help of her womanizing step-brother, Sebastian Valmont (Ryan Phillippe). Though Kathryn and Sebastian have collaborated in schemes of manipulation before, he initially refuses. He is busy planning another "conquest," the beautiful Annette Hargrove (Reese Witherspoon), a girl who has published a manifesto saying that she plans to keep her virginity intact until she is in love.
Kathryn does not think Sebastian has a chance with Annette, so they make a wager. If Kathryn wins, she gets Sebastian's vintage Jaguar, a 1956 XK140 Roadster; if Sebastian wins, she offers him a night of passion with her, as Kathryn knows she is the only girl Sebastian cannot bed. Sebastian initially rejects this deal, being very enamored of his car, but relents when Kathryn ups the ante, telling him that he can have her "anywhere."
Ronald Clifford (Sean Patrick Thomas) is also smitten with Cecile, and Kathryn makes arrangements for Ronald and Cecile to spend time together, hoping that he will take Cecile's virginity.
Sebastian, meanwhile, has a hard time seducing Annette. Though they have chemistry, she sees right through him and rejects his advances. Sebastian learns that Annette has been forewarned of his libertine ways by none other than Cecile's mother, Mrs. Caldwell (Christine Baranski). Wanting revenge, he joins Kathryn in her plans to corrupt Cecile.
Kathryn engineers Ronald's break-up with Cecile by informing Mrs. Caldwell of their flirtations; Mrs. Caldwell, a noted racist, quickly ends their affair. Sebastian, in turn, calls Cecile to his house, ostensibly to give her a letter from Ronald. Once at his house, Sebastian blackmails Cecile and performs oral sex on her. The next day, Cecile confides in Kathryn, who advises her to learn the art of sex from Sebastian so that she can make Ronald happy in bed.
Meanwhile, Sebastian genuinely begins to fall in love with Annette, who returns his feelings but still keeps her defenses up. Confused and beaten by Sebastian's logic, Annette relents - but Sebastian, now feeling guilty, refuses her. Heartbroken and embarrassed, Annette flees his aunt's estate. Sebastian tracks her down and professes his love, and they consummate their relationship.
The next day, Kathryn offers herself to Sebastian as part of the bet, but he refuses. She taunts him for having gone soft, then convinces him that his love for Annette is nothing more than a passing infatuation. Finally swayed by Kathryn's threat to ruin Annette's reputation, Sebastian coldly breaks up with Annette and returns to Kathryn. Kathryn, however, now refuses to sleep with him. After Sebastian tells Kathryn that he has arranged for Cecile and Ronald to be together, Kathryn reveals that she has known all along that he was truly in love with Annette, yet she manipulated him to give it up. While Sebastian may have initially won the bet, she made him lose his first true love, and she (Kathryn) does not sleep with "losers."
Sebastian realizes his mistake. After trying unsuccessfully to talk to her, he sends Annette his journal, in which he has detailed all his previous "conquests" but written his true feelings for Annette, hoping she would learn the truth for herself and forgive him.
Kathryn, meanwhile, informs Ronald of Sebastian's affair with Cecile while lying that Sebastian had hit her, Kathryn (although in a deleted scene Sebastian does hit her). A furious Ronald confronts Sebastian in the middle of the street and a fight ensues. Annette, in search of Sebastian, comes upon the fight and tries to stop it. She is thrown into the way of an oncoming cab. Sebastian pushes her to safety and is hit by the speeding cab himself. Annette rushes to his side. Before he dies, he professes his love for her, and she reciprocates.
The new school year is inaugurated with Sebastian's funeral. During the service, Kathryn gives a speech to the school about how she had tried to get Sebastian to mend his ways and become a model student like herself. Halfway through her speech, students start walking out. Flustered, Kathryn rushes outside the chapel, where Cecile and Annette are distributing copies of Sebastian's journal to all the students. The journal shows all of Sebastian's inner thoughts: his conquests, his description of the bet, and a page on Kathryn, which finally exposes her manipulative and deceitful ways, including the fact that she hides a vial of cocaine in a crucifix she wears in her rosary beads around her neck. The headmaster takes Kathryn's crucifix and opens it, spilling the cocaine. Kathryn's spotless reputation is destroyed, and people finally see her for the troubled, callous mastermind that she is.
In the final shot, Annette drives away in Sebastian's Jaguar, putting his sunglasses on, with his journal by her side.
Reception
Critical reaction
The film received generally mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a score of 47% positive reviews with a 5.3 of 10, based on 76 reviews.[1] At Metacritic, the film holds a score of 56% with a 8.7 from 10, based on 24 reviews.[2]
Charles Taylor of Salon.com described the film as "The Dirtiest-minded American movie in recent memory - and an honestly corrupt entertaining picture is never anything to sneeze at."[2] Stephen Holden The New York Times stated, "You have the queasy sense that the whole thing is just an elaborate stunt, and in this case an exploitative one."[2] Ernest Hardy of LA Weekly criticized the film and said, "In truth, the only reason this film was made was to allow viewers to ogle pretty young things behaving badly."[2]
Box office
Cruel Intentions was a commercial success. The film grossed $ 13,020,565 in its opening weekend, ranking # 2, designed in 2.312 theaters, the movie raked in $ 75,902,208 worldwide.[3]
Awards and nominations
The film received the following awards and nominations:
Soundtrack
References
External links
