Product Description

A STEAMY, STYLISH LOOK AT MANHATTAN'S POSH YOUTH AND THEIRWANTON GAMES AND SEXUAL MANIPULATION. COMMENTARY BY DIRECTORROGER KUMBLE, FEATURETTE, AND TWO MUSIC VIDEOS.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4093 in DVD
• Brand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT
• Released on: 1999-08-03
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 97 minutes

Amazon.com
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, this intermittently successful sudser 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's 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

From The New Yorker
Yet another version of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses," Choderlos de Laclos's stunning 1782 novel about sexual gamesmanship and betrayal. This one is set in contemporary Manhattan, among the spoiled youth of an Upper East Side private school. It's not boring (given the subject, how could it be?), but almost nothing in it works. The elaborate apparatus of sex-seductions, lies, strategic refusals-seems merely peculiar without the eighteenth-century social conventions to support it, and most of the dialogue comes off as arch. Sarah Michelle Gellar looks too old to play a scheming high-school senior, and Ryan Phillippe, as her irresistibly handsome half brother, pouts his way through his role. Only Selma Blair, as a big, goofy girl who keeps falling out of bed, shows a zest for comedy. Reese Witherspoon plays the virgin on whom Phillippe works his charms. Written and directed by Roger Kumble, who has the actors emphasize certain phrases unnaturally so as to appear knowing and vicious. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Malicious
This is a Romantic Comedy of the very dark variety. Sarah Michelle Gellar plays one of the most wicked femme fatales (Kathryn) you will ever encounter on-screen. Reese Witherspoon portrays the typical all-American, virtuous midwestern girl (Annette). In between is a womanizer, Sebastian, played by Ryan Phillippe.

All of the characters in the movie are fabulously wealthy, but more than a few are deficient when it comes to matters of the heart. People who enjoy eye candy will enjoy some of the sets of this movie - particularly the lavish indoor swimming pool @ the cottage.

Sebastian and Kathryn make a bet: can the suave playboy score on Annette? This, along with a web of insidious sub-plots form the core of the movie's plot. In each and every case, Kathryn and Sebastion outwit everyone else in the film in order to manipulate circumstances into their favor. Occasionally, they even dupe each other.

Over the course of the film, however, Sebastian's character begins to change, albeit slightly. Meanwhile, Kathryn remains the cold-hearted and sadistic wench she always was. It is a credit to the acting ability of Phillippe that the change in character becomes apparent and we're actually compelled to care for him by the end of the film.

To answer the $60,000 question on whether a sweet innocent girl can have a significant impact on a life-long playboy, watch the film. However, be prepared for one of the darkest comedies you will ever see. It's downright cruel - intentionally so.

something new
Cruel Intentions is certainly not the usual bubblegum teenybopper movie--a fair warning: unless they are extremely open-minded and relaxed about sex, language, etc., don't rent this with your parents; whether they enjoy it or not, it will not be a comfortable experience for you. But aside from that, this is a very entertaining movie. Sarah Michelle Gellar expands her range playing a bitchy sort of anti-Buffy. Ryan Phillipe's acting style, sometimes called soulless and cold, fits his (originally) heartless character perfectly, and he has good chemistry with Reese Witherspoon (small wonder, since they are now married), who does very well in the role of the proud virgin. Selma Blair is hilariously naive and ridiculous, and Joshua Jackson, in a rather brief role, steals the few scenes he's in. If you're looking for something in the teen genre but not so fluffy as the usual crop, and if you're not easily offended, check this movie out. The only reason I gave it less than 5 stars (I'd give it a 4.5 rather than a 4) is Sebastian's (Phillipe's) transformation from lascivious jerk to tender loverboy is a bit too sudden--the metamorphosis would have been more believable if it had been more gradual, but this is a minor point and doesn't really hurt the film in any way.

Cruel Intentions
Cruel Intentions

This contemporary update of Les Liasons Dangerous (or something like that) sells itself as a teen movie but is in fact much more, and a hell of a lot better, than that. The basic premise is that spoilt teenager (Ryan Phillippe) makes a bet with his sister-in-law (Sarah Michelle Geller) to sleep with virgin Reese Witherspoon, but then he falls in love with her. But there is so much more to the film than this. The script is clever, the plot well structured and the production excellent, but over-riding this is the sheer quality of acting and the raw sexual overtones between the characters. All three of the leads are incredibly sexy, and the the sensual relationships between then (especially Phillippe and Gellar) are excellent. Controversial subjects (sexual awakening, homosexuality) are addressed simply and directly, and all of this without any real nudity or explicit sex scenes. But here is more to this than sex, as the romances play themselves out compellingly, with the actors creating realistic and emotive characters. A brilliant film all round.

8 out of 10.