A clever reworking of a literary classic.
Comment
03/05/02
Cruel Intentions (1999)
47
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:76
Fresh:36
Rotten:40
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
Genre: Dramas
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... [More]
Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, Selma Blair
Director: Roger Kumble
Reviews for Cruel Intentions
Deliciously cunning.
01/01/00
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 CriticLascivious blackmailers and inveterate immoralists, these characters behave despicably, but the movie affects a tone of urbane detachment which puts sex in its proper perspective.
06/24/06
Top CriticThe 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
[This] 'guilty pleasure' ends guilty of not living up to its potential.
03/30/05
The likes of Glenn Close and John Malkovich have given way to unconvincing actors who can't grasp the concept that roles of this complexity require more than good looks.
01/01/00
I fully expected it to be dumbed down beyond all recognition. I expected Dangerous Liaisons 90210. But I can admit when I'm wrong.
01/01/00
You may not like what you see, but you will enjoy it.
01/01/00
The incest, drug use, and sex is there for all to see; unfortunately, the mean spirited characters become downright depressing to watch, especially when intended for a teenage audience.
01/01/00
First-time helmer/writer Roger Kumble starts off on the right foot, but stumbles along the way.
04/09/05
The teen-age target audience will probably gobble Cruel Intentions right up, but for me this film boarders on creepy.
01/01/00
Top CriticGellar exudes a captivatingly carniverous carnality.
01/01/00
Smart and merciless!
01/01/00
Top CriticRoger Kumble has assembled not just stars, but talent who lend the material and characters the depth they deserve.
01/01/00
As a serious study of vapid youth, Cruel Intentions vacillates between the cynically pretentious and the shallowly silly.
01/01/00
Deliciously trashy!
01/01/00
A sly, silly, mostly well-crafted diversion that's no trash classic, but has little to apologize for.
01/01/00
It's disappointing when movies made by adults treat kids -- as characters and viewers -- with disdain.
01/01/00
Roger Kumble gives Cruel Intentions a darkly glossy, upscale look, but he has mixed results with his young cast.
01/01/00
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