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Cruel Intentions (1999)
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Movie Review by Jesse
June 26th, 2007
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The Best Teen Film of the 90s
Wow. I just fell in love with this movie. Strange I know... it's not my type of movie, but I couldn't resist. It's very seductive, very evil, very sexy... it's just an all-around pleasure to watch. Roger Kumble does a terrific job in adapting Choderlos de Laclos' brilliant novel "Les liaisons dangereuses" to the screen in a very modern-day version. Stephen Frears' Dangerous Liaisons and Milos Forman's Valmont were both adapted from the same novel, but I found this one to be far more intriguing.
The performances from Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe are the best in the film. They both bring exactly what is needed for their characters and also for the material of the film. They work well together and with the rest of the cast, too. Reese Witherspoon wasn't as impressive in this as she was in Election (which also came out in 1999), but she still held her own. Selma Blair was great, too.
The division of characters in this film isn't by financial or social classes since they are all rich and snobby brats, but by sex deviants and by good people. The virgins (Reese Witherspoon and Selma Blair) are colonized by the sex fiends and are transformed to suit their ways. It's all one big circle of betrayal.
It isn't until the ending when Sebastian (Phillippe) crumbles under his ego and gives into love do we see the changes in characters. These (supposed) high school students are indeed cruel and the separation between them all is quite dramatic. Not only are they divided by sexual experiences, but even racial discrimination is brought up in this already controversial film. No matter, the plot thickens and it handles all of the problems well.
A solid film with a loaded soundtrack and terrific visual style. This is the best teen film of the 90s and one of my personal favourites.
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 | Lisa
Jun 26, 2007 2:32 PM
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| I totally agree with you I loved this movie it's Geller's best performance to date. |
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