Cruel Intentions
| Cruel Intentions | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Roger Kumble |
| Produced by | Neal H. Moritz |
| Written by | Choderlos de Laclos (novel) Roger Kumble |
| Starring | Sarah Michelle Gellar Ryan Phillippe Reese Witherspoon Selma Blair Louise Fletcher Swoosie Kurtz Sean Patrick Thomas Christine Baranski |
| Music by | Edward Shearmur |
| Cinematography | Theo Van De Sande |
| Editing by | Jeff Freeman |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | March 5, 1999 |
| Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English Vietnamese French |
| Budget | $11 million |
| Gross revenue | $75,902,208 |
| Followed by | Cruel Intentions 2 |
Cruel Intentions is a 1999 American drama film starring Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair. The movie is a comedic and dramatic appropriation of the 18th-century French epistolary novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Laclos, but unlike other modern film versions of the novel set in the France of that time (such as Dangerous Liaisons and Valmont) Cruel Intentions is set among the wealthy teenagers living in modern New York City. The plot is mainly driven by a bet held between the two main characters, and it heavily involves manipulation, seduction, and love in a rich and sophisticated socially elite youth atmosphere. The film started as an independent film with a much smaller budget, and was later picked up by Columbia Pictures. The film was released on March 5, 1999. It was later followed by two direct-to-video films: a prequel, Cruel Intentions 2, and a sequel, Cruel Intentions 3.
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[edit] Plot
Kathryn Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Gellar), the image of social perfection, takes the sheltered and naïve Cecile Caldwell (Selma Blair) under her wing, promising to turn Cecile into a model student like herself. Kathryn's real intention, however, is to take revenge on Court Reynolds, her ex-lover, who dumped her for Cecile. She intends to corrupt Cecile by getting her to sleep with as many men as possible, thereby destroying her reputation and teaching Court a lesson. She asks for the help of her womanizing step-brother, Sebastian Valmont (Ryan Phillippe). Though Kathryn and Sebastian have collaborated in schemes of manipulation before, he initially refuses. He is busy planning another "conquest", the beautiful Annette Hargrove (Reese Witherspoon), a girl who has published a manifesto saying that she plans to keep her virginity intact until she falls in love.
Kathryn does not think Sebastian has a chance with Annette, so they make a wager. If Kathryn wins, she gets Sebastian's vintage Jaguar, a 1956 XK140 Roadster; if Sebastian wins, she offers him a night of passion with her, as Kathryn knows she is the only girl Sebastian cannot bed. Sebastian initially rejects this deal, being very enamored of his car, but relents when Kathryn ups the ante, telling him that he can "put it anywhere." Ronald Clifford (Sean Patrick Thomas), Cecile's music teacher for the summer, is also smitten with Cecile, and Kathryn makes arrangements for Ronald and Cecile to spend time together, hoping that he will take Cecile's virginity. Sebastian, meanwhile, has a hard time seducing Annette. Though they have chemistry, she sees right through him and rejects his advances. Sebastian learns that Annette has been forewarned of his libertine ways by none other than Cecile's mother, Mrs. Caldwell (Christine Baranski). Wanting revenge, he joins Kathryn in her plans to corrupt Cecile. Kathryn engineers Ronald's break-up with Cecile by informing Mrs. Caldwell of their flirtations; Mrs. Caldwell quickly ends their affair. Sebastian, in turn, calls Cecile to his house, ostensibly to give her a letter from Ronald. Once at his house, Sebastian blackmails Cecile and performs oral sex on her. The next day, Cecile confides in Kathryn, who advises her to learn the art of sex from Sebastian so that she can make Ronald happy in bed.
Meanwhile, Sebastian genuinely begins to fall in love with Annette, who returns his feelings but still keeps her defenses up. Sebastian declares that Annette is a hypocrite, waiting for love but refusing to sleep with the guy that loves her. Confused and beaten by Sebastian's logic, Annette relents - but Sebastian, now feeling guilty, refuses her. Heartbroken and embarrassed, Annette flees to her friend's parents' estate. Sebastian tracks her down and professes his love, and they consummate their feelings. Kathryn offers herself to Sebastian the next day, since he has won the bet, but he refuses; his romantic focus is now on Annette. Swayed by Kathryn's threat to ruin Annette's reputation, Sebastian coldly breaks up with Annette and returns to Kathryn. Kathryn, however, now refuses to sleep with him. After Sebastian tells Kathryn that he has arranged for Cecile and Ronald to be together, Kathryn reveals that she has known all along that he was truly in love with Annette, yet she manipulated him to give it up. While Sebastian may have initially won the bet, she made him lose his first true love, and she (Kathryn) does not sleep with "losers." Sebastian realizes his mistake. After trying unsuccessfully to talk to Annette, he sends her his journal, in which he has detailed all his previous "conquests" but written his true feelings for Annette, hoping she will learn the truth for herself and forgive him. Kathryn, meanwhile, informs Ronald of Sebastian's affair with Cecile; Kathryn also claims that Sebastian had hit her (in a deleted scene, Sebastian does hit her). A furious Ronald confronts Sebastian in the middle of the street and a fight ensues. Annette, in search of Sebastian, comes upon the fight and tries to stop it. She is thrown into the way of an oncoming cab. Sebastian pushes her to safety and is hit by the speeding cab himself. Annette rushes to his side. Before he dies, he professes his love for her, and she reciprocates.
The new school year is inaugurated with Sebastian's funeral. During the service, Kathryn gives a self-important speech to the school about how she had unsuccessfully tried to get Sebastian to mend his ways and become a model student like herself. Halfway through her speech, students start walking out. Flustered, Kathryn rushes outside the chapel, where Cecile is distributing copies of Sebastian's journal (entitled "Cruel Intentions") to all the students. The journal shows all of Sebastian's inner thoughts: his conquests, his description of the bet, and a page on Kathryn, which finally exposes her manipulative and deceitful ways, including the fact that she hides a vial of cocaine in a crucifix she wears in the rosary beads around her wrist. The headmaster takes Kathryn's crucifix and opens it, spilling the cocaine. Kathryn's spotless reputation is destroyed, and people finally see her for the troubled, callous mastermind that she is.
In the final shot, Annette drives away in Sebastian's Jaguar, putting his sunglasses on, with his journal by her side and fond memories of being with Sebastian playing through her head.
[edit] Cast
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Kathryn Merteuil
- Ryan Phillippe as Sebastian Valmont
- Reese Witherspoon as Annette Hargrove
- Selma Blair as Cecile Caldwell
- Louise Fletcher as Helen Rosemond
- Swoosie Kurtz as Dr. Greenbaum
- Sean Patrick Thomas as Ronald Clifford
- Christine Baranski as Bunny Caldwell
- Joshua Jackson as Blaine Tuttle
- Eric Mabius as Greg McConnell
- Tara Reid as Marci Greenbaum
- Charlie O'Connell as Court Reynolds
- Herta Ware as Mrs. Sugarman
[edit] Reception
[edit] Critical reaction
The film received generally mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a score of 47% positive reviews with a 5.3 of 10, based on 76 reviews.[1] At Metacritic, the film holds a score of 56% with a 8.7 from 10, based on 24 reviews.[2]
Charles Taylor of Salon.com described the film as "The Dirtiest-minded American movie in recent memory - and an honestly corrupt entertaining picture is never anything to sneeze at."[2] Stephen Holden The New York Times stated, "You have the queasy sense that the whole thing is just an elaborate stunt, and in this case an exploitative one."[2] Ernest Hardy of LA Weekly criticized the film and said, "In truth, the only reason this film was made was to allow viewers to ogle pretty young things behaving badly."[2]
[edit] Box office
Cruel Intentions was a commercial success. The film grossed $13,020,565 in its opening weekend, ranking #2 behind Analyze This; released in 2,312 theaters, the movie raked in $75,902,208 worldwide.[3]
[edit] Awards and nominations
The film received the following awards and nominations:
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Blockbuster Entertainment Award | Favorite Supporting Actress, Reese Witherspoon | Won |
| Golden Slate | Best Original Score | Won | |
| Best Actress in a Leading Role, Sarah Michelle Gellar | Nominated | ||
| Best Movie | Nominated | ||
| Best Movie Soundtrack | Won | ||
| Best Teen Movie | Nominated | ||
| MTV Movie Awards | Best Female Performance, Sarah Michelle Gellar | Won | |
| Best Kiss: (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Selma Blair) | Won | ||
| Best Male Performance, Ryan Phillippe | Nominated | ||
| Best Villain, Sarah Michelle Gellar | Nominated | ||
| Teen Choice Awards | Best Film - Drama | Won | |
| Best Actor, Ryan Phillippe | Nominated | ||
| Best Actress, Reese Witherspoon | Nominated | ||
| Sexiest Love Scene: (Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Phillippe) | Nominated |
[edit] Comparisons to Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Mostly the film's plot remains loyal to the book's but several differences appear:
- Most notably, while the events in the book happen during the 1700s, the film is set in the late 1990s.
- The names are respected with Kathryn Merteuil (la marquise de Merteuil), Sebastian Valmont (le vicomte de Valmont), Cecile Caldwell (Cécile de Volanges). Only Annette and Ronald's bases are not respected as their names in the book are Présidente de Tourvel and Chevalier Danceny respectively.
- Merteuil's downfall was provoked for the same reasons: Valmont made information about her public by giving it to one of the characters (Danceny in the book, Annette in the film) though, in the book, Merteuil loses her beauty by suffering from smallpox and Kathryn does not.
- In the book, the characters maintain a correspondence between them using letters, letters that all fall in the hands of Valmont's aunt at the end of the book. These letters are omitted in the film but Merteuil's downfall, which was due to the letters she wrote to Valmont in the book, is caused by a journal that Sebastian was keeping.
- The ending is different as, in the book, Valmont's love for Tourvel is never professed directly and we can only guess that he loved her. In the film, he tells her and gives her his journal to make her see the truth. Also, in the fight at the end between Sebastian and Ronald (Valmont and Danceny in the book), Tourvel is not present in the book but Annette is in the film. At the end of the book, after learning of Valmont's death, Tourvel loses her will to live and dies of fever: in the film Annette lives, cherishing the memory of Sebastian.
[edit] Soundtrack
The Cruel Intentions soundtrack is a compilation soundtrack released on March 9, 1999 by Virgin Records.
[edit] References
- ^ "Cruel Intentions – Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cruel_intentions/.
- ^ a b c d "Cruel Intentions, The (1999): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/cruelintentions.
- ^ "Cruel Intentions (1999) - Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=cruelintentions.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-23.
[edit] External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Cruel Intentions |
- Cruel Intentions at the Internet Movie Database
- Cruel Intentions at Allmovie
- Cruel Intentions at Box Office Mojo
- Cruel Intentions at Rotten Tomatoes
- Cruel Intentions at Metacritic
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