Before you start thinking whether or not to bother reading YET another American teen flick review, this time it’s actually very good!.
STORYLINE:
The story revolves around the handsome, yet cruel, Sebastian (Ryan Phillipe) and his beautiful, yet sinister, stepsister Kathryn (Sarah Michelle-Gellar) and there little bet. If Sebastian manages to bed the new college headmasters daughter before the start of the new semester, he will get what he’s always wanted, Kathryn. If he doesn’t then Kathryn will win his most prized possession, his 1956 Jaguar Roadster.
The film starts off with Mrs. Caldwell (Christine Baranski) introducing her daughter, Cecile (Selma Blair), to Kathryn – who is the College Student Body President. What they don’t know is that Kathryn holds a grudge against her because her ex-boyfriend left her for Cecile not long before. So she decides that she will befriend her and ‘teach her the ropes’ with the intention of making her the ‘tramp’ of the College.
The bet between the two forms when Sebastian declares that he wants more of a challenge than just the, apparently, easy Manhattan débutantes. He read an article by a young woman named Annette about why she intends to stay a virgin until she is married – she believes two people shouldn’t experience the act of love until they’re in love, and she believes she is too young to ever be in love. It turns out that she is the daughter of the new College headmaster and Sebastian believes that this would be his greatest triumph and would do wonders for his reputation.
When she arrives he struggles to make any impression with Annette (Reese Witherspoon) as he soon finds out that she has been sent a letter from a friend warning her about Sebastian and his ‘reputation’ at the College. He soon finds out who is behind this and then manages to bribe one of Annettes closest friends into dropping in some good words for him, making her doubt the bad things she had been told about Sebastian.
Soon he begins to befriend her and they start to get along very well. Very smoothly you begin to see Sebastians transition as he starts to realise that he is having more and more feeling towards Annette and visa versa. They start seeing a lot more of each other regularly and it becomes clear their feelings for each other.
Kathryn begins to see this in him and then goes onto tell him that he’ll never change and that they’re one of a kind and then threatens him with what he thinks would happen if she was to tell the headmaster of their relationship. He then goes on to break things off with Annette as he realises he can’t do this bet anymore.
The whole story then moves on to Sebastian realising that he no longer cares for his reputation and confesses all, no lies, to Annette including everything about the bet. There is much more to the film but anymore would spoil the eventual twist in the conclusion to their relationship.
CAST:
All the actors are superbly cast and the acting is top-notch. A bunch of young actors with an excellent future ahead of them.
DVD EXTRA’S:
Deleted Scenes – a good few, excellent extra and extended scenes from the film with additional director commentary as to why they were eventually left out.
Music Video’s – Placebo’s with Every Me, Every You & Macy Playground with Coming Up From Behind.
Behind The Scenes – a fairly average documentary to be honest, gives little detail of what went on and seemed to be more in praise of the director.
OVERALL:
A top film well worth seeing - excellent acting and an excellent story line. And for the blokes, if you don’t want to watch it for anything else you’ll want to see it just for the park scene! – superb!.
A film well worth going down to Blockbuster and renting out for a night.
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Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
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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-nominat...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
This modern-day teen update ofLes Liaisons Dangereusessuffered at the hands of both ... more
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Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
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Feb 10th, 2001
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