Cruel Intentions Review
by Edward Johnson-ott (PBBP24A AT prodigy DOT com)March 5th, 1999
Cruel Intentions (1999)
Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, Selma Blair, Louise Fletcher, Joshua Jackson, Eric Mabius, Sean Patrick Thomas, Swoosie Kurtz, Christine Baranski. Written by Roger Kumble, suggested by Choderlos De Laclos' novel "Les liaisons dangereuses." Directed by Roger Kumble. 95 minutes.
Rated R, 2.5 stars (out of five stars)
Review by Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly
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About 25 minutes into the sneak preview of "Cruel Intentions," during a close-up shot of Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair french-kissing, a couple sitting next to me scooped up their young children and left the theater in a huff, grousing that they didn't want to expose their kids to "goings on like these." I wondered, of course, why Ward and June had brought their kids to an R-rated film about sexual manipulation in the first place. But even more puzzling was why it had taken 25 whole minutes for them to get offended enough to leave.
Lascivious and trashy, "Cruel Intentions" is so eager to shock and titillate that it's almost endearing. In its quest to be this year's "Wild Things," the potboiler trots out virtually anything that be could considered even vaguely forbidden to a young person, from interracial romance and gay male sex to pseudo-incestuous grinding between step- siblings. The dialogue features surprisingly graphic descriptions of all things erotic. Even the most common of cinematic teases, a simple glimpse of the male lead's butt, is presented in a flashy pull-away shot intended to maximize its impact. Amazingly, the visual "tah-dah!" worked and a number of audience members actually gasped at the sight of Ryan Phillippe's bare bottom. Just imagine what they would have done had he flashed his winkie.
The fourth film based on Choderlos De Laclos' 1782 novel "Les liaisons dangereuses," "Cruel Intentions" is a teenage version of "Dangerous Liaisons," with Phillippe and Gellar subbing for John Malkovich and Glenn Close. While Gellar basically turns her emotion meter to the "bitch" setting and leaves it there, Ryan Phillippe gives a much more interesting performance. As a young cad trying to fool those around him, he neatly slides from effete Malkovich wannabe to faux-sincere weasel to genuinely infatuated kid effortlessly. He is a lot of fun to watch.
The story, set in Manhattan's upper-crust society, focuses on the twisted antics of two inexplicably jaded brats. While Kathryn (Gellar) schemes to turn the naïve Cecile (Selma Blair, whose clumsy, overdone characterization resembles some perverse hybrid of Elly Mae Clampett and Jethro Bodine) into a tramp, her step-brother Sebastian (Phillippe) sets his sights on deflowering the beautiful Annette (Reese Witherspoon), daughter of the new school headmaster and author of a "virgin manifesto" published in Seventeen magazine. Convinced that the chaste girl is too much even for Sebastian, Kathryn makes a bet with her sibling: If he succeeds, she'll have sex with him, but if he fails, she gets his gorgeous 1956 Jaguar.
Interestingly, Roger Kumble, author and director of this adaptation, proves adept at presenting decadence but stumbles when dealing with heartfelt romance. The wicked parts of the film, while undeniably ludicrous, are also quite entertaining, but when matters turn sincere and moralistic, the production hits the ground with a loud thud. There is another problem. Interracial and gay liaisons are depicted in a matter-of- fact fashion that is refreshing, but the commentary surrounding the affairs reinforces racist and homophobic attitudes. Had Kumble exercised more care with his writing, he could have made the scenes work without fueling bigotry.
Those significant flaws aside, the film was far more engaging than I expected it to be. Like "Wild Things," "Cruel Intentions" is forthright about its lewd trashiness. This is a calculated guilty pleasure and, on those terms, I enjoyed it.
© 1999 Ed Johnson-Ott
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