"It's your job, right? You know, the guy who kills me, I hope he does it 'cause he hates my gut...
"It's your job, right? You know, the guy who kills me, I hope he does it 'cause he hates my guts. Not 'cause it's his job" - Sonny (Al Pacino) in 'Dog Day Afternoon' (1975)
Member since:26.02.2003
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Cruel Intentions, a teen comedy/drama with both a fiesty and serious side, which boasts an increbible cast of hollywood twenty somethings.
The stellar cast include Ryan Phillippe (The Way of the Gun, Gosford Park), Sarah Michelle Gellar (TV's Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Scooby Doo), Reese Witherspoon (Sweet Home Alabama, Legally Blond), Selma Blair (A Guy Thing, The Sweetest Thing) and Joshua Jackson (TV's Dawson's Creek).
The story is as follows; Kathryn Merteuil (Gellar) and Sebastian Valmont (Phillippe) are step brother and step sister as a result of their parent's uniting in matrimony. Kathryn's "gold digging whore of a" mother and Sebastian's "alcoholic, impudent" father let their manipulating, adolecent children get on with their well off existence in Manhattan's upper east side involving both sex and drugs.
Kathryn is the student body president at their boarding school (Manchester Prep, if you really needed to know), who snorts coke and in general is not as innocent and lady like as she may seem. When shy, rich girl Cecile (Slema Blair) is about to attend Manchester, her up tight mother (Louise Fletcher) insists that Secile should be taken under Kathryn's wing as she has never been to such an institution before. In Kathryn's best interest, she shatters her innocence and gets her involved in all kinds of sexual mischief, including a secret love affair with her music teacher (the Cello, again if you need to know).
Sebastian (Phillippe) is the smooth, slick, womaniser who treats sex as a conquest and girls as trophies. It is something
that has built quite an exceptional reputation amoung fellow students and friends. But Sebastian seeks a new challenge "I'm sick of sleeping with these stupid Manhattan debutonts, (I don't know what it means either) nothing shocks them anymore".
Sebastian descovers his new target, Annette Hargrove (Witherspoon), the new headmaster's virgin daughter. She just so happens to be staying at his aunt's country mansion for the duration of the summer vacation. His mission (so he likes to call it): to have sex with the headmaster's daughter before the start of school. "It will be my (his) greatest victory"
On hearing this plan, the seductive Kathryn, an object of Sebastian's sexual affection for quite some time by the way, see's the opportunity for a little wager. The wager is as follows: if Kathryn wins, Sebastian 1956 Jaguar Roadster will be hers. However if Sebastian wins, he will win the only girl he can't have - Kathryn.
A dangerous game of sex, lust, seduction, deception and betrayl ensues.
I hope you're all still with me after that, admittedly it does sound like the storyline for an episode of Hollyoaks, but it is very entertaining to see the events unfold slowly but surely to catastraphy. The dialogue is also very entertaining to listen to and watch, full of innuendo: "you can put it anywhere" "I don't want to kiss you here, I want to kiss you... here"
Performances from the three leads (Phillippe, Gellar and Witherspoon) are fantastic. Phillippe is very good as the charasmatic and smooth Valmont. His energy really shows in his performance as a manipulative, well spoken upper class, play boy. His devious behaviour provides alot of the comedic aspect, his first scene with his female psychaiatrist is most ammusing after we find out what has happened to her daughter...
Sarah Michelle Gellar is also expertly cast as the devious, 'we love to hate', puppet master Kathryn who is a delicate flower but a serpant underneath. She also works with the same energy as Phillippe and their chemistry as half brother-half sister really works in both thier times of intimacy and times of bickering (their bickering being most amussing of course). Her presence is well noted by the audience despite the fact that when she went home everyday after shooting, she'd feel really rotten (aparently so). Sarah, its not your fault, its your character's fault Kathryn's so evil.
Reese Witherspoon plays her delicate yet headstrong character well with no real melodrama or song and dance, which works really well. The chemisty between her down to earth character and Sebastian's larger than life, single minded character clashes, which creates some sexy sparks. Everything down to her facial expression makes her convincing as an unexperienced, perhaps overprotected daddy's girl.
Selma Blair as again an unexperience but sexually adventureous Cecile is a very awkward character, not knowing what she is doing and constantly being taken advantage (in one form or another). Blair however plays this quirky, naive, young girl very well.
And by the way Joshua Jackson makes a brief but memerable apperence as Sebastian's gay friend who the pair take a great deal of enjoyment in setting up this other guy who's 'in the closet' as such. Secile's strict mother is also fun to watch in her few but overall good scenes.
Like I said the performances are great and some of the credit needs to go to Director Roger Kumble who wrote the screenplay admirably (the film is originally adapted from 1988 film; Dangerous Liasons, which I believe before that was a play).
Kumble's style of directing is simple but effective. Photography is also simple but at the same time stylish, in order to capture the glamerous world that these people live in. If you overlook the odd cliche (I won't give details), this film is well above average and is worth multiple viewings.
For a film with content such as sex, there is in fact a surprisingly shortage in sex that takes place in the film. It is however riddled with innuendo that I don't think the vicar will agree on. I won't metion any for fear of being removed from ciao, but you get my idea. Not the kind of film to watch with older (or younger) relatives, its sex references leads to it being confined to the target audience of that of a teen movie: teens.
Complete with a soundtrack that is good but doesn't quite make the impact that it intends, ranges from rock, pop (Fatboy Slim, Blur, The Verve and Placebo to wet your appetitie) to the kind of music people "get it on" to, so to speak...um...ok, I think i'll shut up now...
BOTTOM LINE Cruel Intentions is a funny, slightly moving, entertainly look on a select group of people destoying eachother's lives, with back stabbing, black mail and whatever else hormone driven teens do these days to each other. An overall splendid film with minor flaws. Not really recommended for adults however. I don't think its their kind of film and by no means is it anything extremely special that could warrant Oscar recognition.
Certificate : 15 Time Approx: 94 minutes
CAUTION: contains strong langague strong sexual references
If you liked this, try :- Dangerous Liasons
On the whole, a decent effort.
<DarkMark
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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
I was about to write a review on this movie, but after reading this one I don't think I'll bother. Brilliant review. I love this film! :)
ikeaholic 16.07.2004 00:17
sounds like a very sexually-tantalising treat, although I hear there's a very hyped-up lesbian kiss between Gellar and Blair publicity gag perhaps? nonetheless an excellent well-covered review. jess x
Advantages: How good the actors are and how class they make this movie to be.And how no special effects are needed to make this movie how good it is. Disadvantages: wasnt long enough lol
crazygeordie 28.06.2001 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Cruel Intentions
Advantages: How good the actors are and how class they make this movie to be.And how no special effects are needed to make this movie how good it is. Disadvantages: wasnt long enough lol
crazygeordie 28.06.2001 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Cruel Intentions
Advantages: it was watchable in a funny sort of way Disadvantages: The quality of acting didn't compare to the original, Repeated quotes from the first film
jenni_a 29.04.2003 (29.04.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of CruelIntentions 2 (DVD)
Mar 9th, 2004
exceptional by (3%):
very helpful by (97%):
