Cruel Intentions Review
by Danielle Flynn (alanism567 AT aol DOT com)April 10th, 1999
CRUEL INTENTIONS (1999)
(www.cruelintentions.com)
Review/Character Analysis by Danielle Flynn
Cast:
Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, Selma Blair
MPAA Rating:
R for dialogue, language, sexual situations, and thematic elements
Genre:
Drama
In My Opinion:
**** out of ****
Summary:
Rather than the typical Hollywood pattern of promoting promiscuous, immoral people as accredited examples we can follow, they have broken out of the corrupt mold of filmmaking and have promoted them as nothing more than promiscuous, immoral people.
Review:
This is one of those rare, unseen cases where you must look beyond what the previews unfurl. If one sees the trailer and only the trailer, here is what the extent of his plot summary will be: spoiled, rich college-age boy bets his equally spoiled, rich college-age stepsister that he can, what is a nice way of putting this, sleep with the school headmaster's daughter, famous for her morals of "waiting for true love", and eventually the boy falls in love with her instead… oh great, more complications. Sounds twisted, huh? Tell me about it. Ah, how trailers can deceive.
I nonchalantly walked into the theater expecting to be dragged out ten minutes later by my I-only-like-old-G-rated-movies type of mother who knew nothing about this flick we had decided to stay and watch after seeing another one. But instead, I was intrigued by every moment. Go in there expecting what you want, none of it will matter. I suppose one of the primary reasons I found myself fascinated was the acting. I had counted on a bunch of Hollywood's teen stars thrown into a foul-mouthed, tasteless "B movie". I was wrong. You'll never look at Buffy the same way again.
Sarah Michelle Gellar carries this movie fantastically. Though a fully dazzling cast shines in every scene, it truly is Kathryn Merteuil we all find ourselves drawn to simply for her flagitiously wicked disposition and no-conscience perspective. This is a person who has never been loved by anyone. She gets her pleasure in life by the pain in others', which she proudly displays wordlessly in each scene. This is someone with no concrete emotions and a heart of stone. Yet still there is an aspect of fear; fear of getting seriously hurt. Fear of the world and of being defeated by people like herself. She perhaps may be a vicious, relentless villain on the outside but inwardly she is a scared little girl who desperately needs someone to love her, and you can see it in her eyes the whole time no matter how brutal she may carry herself to be. Gellar takes an immense stretch from her famous television role of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as she boldly and successfully plunges into the position of someone much more sinister. My personal favorite scene in the entire film, and not to mention Gellar's finest, was at almost the very end, when the entire school discovers her secret, compliments of Cecile. There is no actual dialogue in this scene but it is still to me the most powerful and moving one of all.
Another crucial role is that of Kathryn's stepbrother Sebastian Valmont, who proposes the bet in the first place. Ryan Phillippe (reuniting with Gellar after their first appearance together in the horror smash "I Know What You Did Last Summer") renders a scathingly commendable yet unadorned performance as someone also in great need of attention. He holds an offensive reputation as the rich kid who takes advantage of every "insipid Manhattan debutante" he desires. Phillippe's character exhibits great chemistry with the others', especially Gellar's. An intensely dramatic transformation in the film is when Sebastian realizes that he truly loves Annette. There is more complexity to this than meets the eye, seeing how selfish and perverted Sebastian has always been. Phillippe furnishes this sequence with an emotionally distraught display of honesty and conviction, which just blew me away.
Reese Witherspoon offers a simple yet simply elaborate show of being "the good girl" (Annette Hargrove) without making her inaccessibly "goody-goody". A sort of subtlety and maturity about her character results in the audience being able to connect to her. This is not someone who needs a lot of figuring out but rather needs a lot of acceptance. Her spirit holds a tenacious truth that seems to act as sort of the conscience for the entire film. I would have to say Witherspoon's most prominently well-mastered scene is when Sebastian reveals the truth to her. She is able to just lose control without compromising her entirety, which I thought was nothing more than a finely polished job on her part.
There is a certain depth and innocence yet mischievous mystery to the role of Cecile Caldwell, immaculately played by Selma Blair. She is probably the most complicated character of all because she has so many levels. There is a little 8-year-old version of her that still wants to play and have fun, and there is a 30-year-old version that wants to encounter the so-called great adult experiences of life. It's a girl who has also not experienced much love in her life, especially from her wealthy, egotistic, over-bearing mother. She is truly looking for love in all the wrong places, and rather than find it, she gets clobbered. But not knowing what she should have expected anyway, she takes it in a rather naïve way, clumsily playing by the only rules she knows in the only way she knows how.
I cannot remember the last time I've enjoyed a movie to such an extent. Not in the way of, "oh this is just so much fun", but more in the vicinity of, "this is smart, deep, and very dark yet very accessible". A strong word of advice, however; don't drag anyone under 15 to see this. It may have a cast chock full of young people, but it's a movie highlighting the cruel intentions of adults in the world today. A superb, simple, and entertaining script combined with a surprisingly impressive cast has made "Cruel Intentions" one of the most exceptional movies I've seen in years. Until next time, "happy hunting", and remember: "in the game of seduction, there's only one rule: never fall in love."
Until the next great movie I see, I remain sincerely,
Danielle Flynn, IMR (Independent Movie Reviewer)
[email protected]
(March 20, 1999 - Saturday)
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
