A Sexually Charged Film about Teen Angst for the Upperclass..
Cruel Intentions
is a movie that you eitheror you. You can't be stuck in between and say it was. I was first introduced to this movie when my sister rented it as soon as it came out onand watched it and said it was Gr8. Cruel Intentions
is a movie that a lot of people seem to hate, but I think those looking too deeply into
it are completely missing the point. This isn't a movie that claims to be "Academy Award" material, nor does it boldly go where no movie has gone before. It is simply an entertaining movie that is meant for just that; entertainment.
Obvious problems occur with the script
in some parts like how Sebastian gets all of the ladies. No guy is that sly. It's almost impossible. And I think some characters should have had more back-work filled in with them and also I think that the whole Selma Blair-Sean Patrick Thomas-love-affair thing
was filler because it was just too…too…something. It just didn't fit with the rest of the story, but nevertheless, the plot is really good and my favorite part about it is the glorious dialogue especially between Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe since a majority of it is funnyeven though their intentions are cruel.
I hate Joshua Jackson, but his small role is definitely the funniest in the movie and the best to watch. He plays a gay guy that helps Sebastian
find out who's badmouthing him to Annette and his dialogue was ingeniously written and hilarious to watch. First of all, he talks in a high-spirited, overly happy voice
that’s just hysterical to hear (but a little too stereotypical and rude to homosexuals) and he just has a sort of way of words with people. I only wish that he had a bigger part.
【Sarah Michelle Gellar】Cruel Intentions【Reese Witherspoon】 To be Young & Evil in New York City..
The best scene in this movie occurs when Annette leaves the house to stay with friends.
Sebastian wakes up in the morning and finds out she left. He takes off to find her, and from a friend he learns she is at the train station. It cuts to her walking towards an escalator.
Then, at the top, stands Sebastian. She reaches him, mentions that she is impressed, and they kiss. It's a good kissing scene too.
When adults are being this cruel, manipulative and downright sinful, it looks to be the result of bitterness and boredom with cunning calculation. When teenagers do it, they look like ditzes that are experimenting with things they have no idea about.
This is not meant to blame the actors or the writing.
This is an expected prejudice that most audiences tend to have, and it's a proper one. For teenagers to be this evilly adult-like
seems unlikely. You have to overcome this leap of reality to enjoy the picture more.
The modern background of New York City is appropriate for a script that was originally writtenfor a 17th century French setting,because both are realms traditionally full of decadence. In spite of this, " Cruel Intentions
" is the weakest version of " Les Liaisons Dangereuses
" because the script has obvious logical problems of translating some of the most bothersome details of an adult society into a teenage world. The ideas of marital infidelity and dueling simply have no adequate substitutes
here.
Nevertheless, the script of " Les Liaisons Dangereuses
" is strong enough to overcome some of the awkwardness of this film. The sinful pleasure
of watching good-looking teenagers act naughtily is also appealing. The film adds a couple ofelements to try to make up for these problems. The fact that Kathryn and Sebastian are related in this film makes their relationship incestuous. The lesbian kiss between Blair and Geller
in this film was much celebrated and convincing done.
As you can probably see, this is a teenage picture that isn't appropriate for teenagers. It's full of very adult themes,
and young minds might think it would be gr8 funto emulate the actors,without truly realizing the consequences. Some see the weakness of the " Les Liaisons Dangereuses
" script to be that there isno true hero, or even anyone you can sympathize with. I see this as a strength, since the hero is the universe. You hope that society or nature will meet out its punishments appropriately. The fact that the universe tends to do this imperfectly is part of the enjoyment of such a script.
As far as teen movies go, I really did enjoy " Cruel Intentions
." I went into it expecting another cliche teen movie like " She's All That
" or " Boys and Girls
", but instead I got a dark twisted
movie with witty dialogue and an amazing soundtrack. If you don't over-analyze or look too deeply
into this movie, you may just end up liking it. Every time I watch it, I get caught up in the story line again and again.
I would recommend this.