Cruel Intentions
| Cruel Intentions | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Roger Kumble |
| Written by | Choderlos de Laclos (novel) Roger Kumble (screenplay) |
| Produced by | Neal H. Moritz |
| Starring | Sarah Michelle Gellar Ryan Phillippe Reese Witherspoon Selma Blair Sean Patrick Thomas |
| Cinematography | Theo van de Sande |
| Edited by | Jeff Freeman |
| Music by | Ed Shearmur |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release dates | March 5, 1999 |
Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $11,000,000 |
Cruel Intentions is a 1999 American feature film starring Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair. The movie is a drama film based on the 18th century French novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, 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 of modern-day New York society. 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, it 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.
Plot summary
Kathryn Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Gellar), the image of the social perfection, or "Popular girl" takes the sheltered and naive 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 her ex-lover who had dumped her for the "innocent little twit", Cecile. She intends to corrupt Cecile by getting her to sleep with as many men as possible, thereby destroying her reputation and teaching her ex-lover 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, initially, he refuses. He is busy planning another "conquest"—Annette Hargrove (Reese Witherspoon), the virgin beauty and daughter of the new headmaster of their school, who has written a manifesto saying she plans to keep her virginity intact and wait for marriage. Fortunately for Sebastian, she is temporarily staying at his aunt's estate. Kathryn does not think he has a chance with Annette, so they make a wager. If Kathryn wins, she gets Sebastian's vintage Jaguar; if she loses, Sebastian gets to sleep with Kathryn-—something she has been denying him ever since their parents married.
Meanwhile, Kathryn teaches Cecile what "first base" is by making out with her. She then encourages her to try it out with her music teacher, Ronald (Sean Patrick Thomas), who is also smitten with Cecile. Kathryn makes arrangements for Ronald and Cecile to spend time together, hoping that he would take Cecile's virginity.
Sebastian, on the other hand, has a hard time seducing Annette. Though they have chemistry, she sees right through him and rejects his advances. He learns that Annette has been forewarned of his libertine ways by none other than Cecile's mother. Wanting revenge, he joins Kathryn in her plans to corrupt Cecile.
Kathryn engineers Ronald's break-up with Cecile by informing Cecile's mother. Sebastian, in turn, calls Cecile to his house to give her a letter from Ronald. Once at his house, he 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 amazingly begins to genuinely fall in love with Annette, who returns his feelings but still keeps her defenses up. He accuses her of being a hypocrite-—she preaches to wait for love, and yet refuses to sleep with the guy she loves. Annette relents, but Sebastian, now feeling guilty, refuses. However, when she leaves the estate, heartbroken, he tracks her down and they consummate their relationship.
The next day, Kathryn offers herself to Sebastian as part of the bet but he refuses. She taunts him for having gone soft, then convinces him that his love for Annette is nothing more than a passing infatuation. Sebastian breaks up with Annette and returns to Kathryn, who now refuses to sleep with him. After Sebastian tells Kathryn that he has arranged for Cecile and Ronald to be together, she 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. He sends Annette his journal, in which he has detailed all his previous "conquests", but written his true feelings for Annette, hoping she would learn the truth for herself and forgive him. Kathryn, meanwhile, informs Ronald of Sebastian's affair with Cecile whilst pretending that Sebastian had hit her and tells him Sebastian has slept with Cecile, making him very angry. 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 pushed into the way of an oncoming cab. Sebastian pushes her to safety and is hit by the cab himself. The accident kills him.
At his funeral, Kathryn gives a speech to the school about how she had tried to get Sebastian to mend his ways and become a model student like herself. Halfway through her speech, students start walking out. Cecile is distributing copies of Sebastian's journal 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 illustrates her manipulative and deceitful ways, including the fact that she hides a vial of cocaine in a crucifix she wears round her neck. The headmaster takes Kathryn's crucifix and opens it, emptying 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.
Box office and awards
Though not a massive box office hit, the movie surpassed its budget by making an estimated $39 million on a budget of $11 million.
Awards and nominations
The kiss shared between Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair earned them various awards, including an MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss.[1]
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Blockbuster Entertainment Award | Favorite Supporting Actress, Reese Witherspoon | won |
| 2000 | Golden Slate | Best Original Score | won |
| 2000 | Golden Slate | Best Actress in a Leading Role, Sarah Michelle Gellar | nominated |
| 2000 | Golden Slate | Best Movie | nominated |
| 2000 | Golden Slate | Best Movie Soundtrack | won |
| 2000 | Golden Slate | Best Teen Movie | nominated |
| 2000 | MTV Movie Awards | Best Female Performance, Sarah Michelle Gellar | won |
| 2000 | MTV Movie Awards | Best Kiss: (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Selma Blair) | won |
| 2000 | MTV Movie Awards | Best Male Performance, Ryan Phillippe | nominated |
| 2000 | MTV Movie Awards | Best Villain, Sarah Michelle Gellar | nominated |
| 2000 | Teen Choice Awards | Best Film - Drama | won |
| 2000 | Teen Choice Awards | Best Actor, Ryan Phillippe | nominated |
| 2000 | Teen Choice Awards | Best Actress, Reese Witherspoon | nominated |
| 2000 | Teen Choice Awards | Sexiest Love Scene: (Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Phillippe) | won |
Soundtrack
Bitter Sweet Symphony
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (June 2007) |
- In one scene, Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) says "Do you think I relish the fact that I have to act like Mary Sunshine 24/7 so I can be considered a lady?" Christine Baranski (Bunny Caldwell) plays the role of Mary Sunshine in the movie-musical "Chicago"
- The main characters of "Cruel Intentions" take their names from the characters in "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" or "Dangerous Liaisons", the story on which the film is based: Sebastian Valmont (Vicomte Sébastien de Valmont), Kathryn Merteuil (Marquise de Merteuil), and Cecile Caldwell (Cécile de Volanges). The only main character whose name is not from "Liaisons" is 'Annette Hargrove' (Madame Marie de Tourvel).
- In "Les Liaisons Dangereuses", the character Annette is based on (Marie de Tourvel) is married. And rather than driving off in a 1956 Jaguar roadster, she dies of a fever at the end of the play, broken-hearted after Valmont (Sebastian) has died.
- Ryan Phillippe wrote and put together the journal, in which his character writes and is used to ruin Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) at the end of the film (DVD commentary).
- Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe previously worked together in I Know What You Did Last Summer.
- Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon were married, but are now divorced.
- Reese Witherspoon and Selma Blair previously worked together in a teen comedy and drama Legally Blonde
- Fred Norris of The Howard Stern Show has a 15 second speaking role with Ryan in the movie.
- While Kathryn and Sebastian are looking at Seventeen, Jennifer Love Hewitt, who was in I Know What You Did Last Summer with them, is on the cover.
References
External links
