Lascivious blackmailers and inveterate immoralists, these characters behave despicably, but the movie affects a tone of urbane detachment which puts sex in its proper perspective.
Comment
06/24/06
Cruel Intentions (1999)
48 %
Reviews Counted: 75 Fresh: 36 Rotten:39 Average Rating: 5.3/10
Consensus:
Even in a slick package and an attractive cast, the movie succumbs to bad acting and a bad script.
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Synopsis: Director Roger Kumble transfers the DANGEROUS LIASONS tale to Manhattan, where wealthy prep school student Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) bets her stepbrother Sebastian (Ryan Phillipe) that he can't deflower the virginal Annette (Reese Witherspoon) before the school year begins. If... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, Selma Blair, Sean Patrick Thomas
Reviews
Top Critic
Not quite as clever as it thinks it is, but still oozing more dark wit than most teen movies can dream of.
01/01/00
Top Critic
What's both depressing and impressive about Cruel Intentions is the profound misanthropy of its meaning.
02/08/08
You won't be able to resist the film's ribaldry and cynicism. Kids these days!
02/08/08
The film's cheat ending aside, this arch, ridiculous movie heaves, sweats and steams, and for the most part, it delivers what its title promises.
08/01/07
Every bit of the original's nastiness is retained but none of its wit or elegance.
01/09/07
In the end, the whole shebang comes off like a bunch of snotty, rich white kids screwing each other and screwing each other over.
12/06/05
You sometimes have to giggle at this movie the way you do when you catch 4-year-olds playing dress-up in front of Mom's closet.
07/21/05
First-time helmer/writer Roger Kumble starts off on the right foot, but stumbles along the way.
04/09/05
[This] 'guilty pleasure' ends guilty of not living up to its potential.
03/30/05
The movie's cinematography, set design, and costume design are all extremely elegant, and the beautiful young actors are shown off to maximum effect, like expensively bred horses.
06/24/03
Kumble doesn't dumb down the themes of the novel too much, he just gives them a refreshing, flashy feel Dawson's Creek-style.
09/10/02
Despite its highly descriptive dialogue, Cruel Intentions features no nudity ... I doubt teenage boys will be satisfied just to hear Buffy talk dirty.
09/06/02
The movie never gets past a crucial structural flaw: Behavior that would have scandalized pre-Revolutionary France would scarcely raise an eyebrow among today's drug-dazed and sex-crazed Upper East Side crowd.
06/23/02
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