Cruel Intentions (1999) * * *

 

Directed by:  Roger Kumble

Starring:  Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Resse Witherspoon, Selma Blair, Christine Baranski, Louise Fletcher, Eric Mabius, Sean Patrick Thomas, Joshua Jackson

You could dismiss Cruel Intentions as a young adult version of Dangerous Liaisons, or you can admire the film's style and performances like I did, especially Phillippe's since his character, the contemptible  Sebastian Valmont, undergoes the most changes.   Cruel Intentions moves the action from 19th century Paris to late 20th century New York with the wealthy and privileged playing people like chess pieces. 

Two such creeps are Kathryn Merteuil (Gellar) and her stepbrother Sebastian who lusts for her.  Kathryn plays Sebastian's feelings to her advantage, forever dangling her body like a carrot while tasking Sebastian to ruin the people's lives who recently ran afoul of her.   Sebastian's job is to seduce the new girlfriend (Blair) of the guy who jilted her and then deflower the virgin Annette (Witherspoon), the new school headmaster's daughter who exalted her chaste lifestyle in a recent magazine article.  Annette's wholesomeness is offensive to Kathryn apparently and it would do hear heart good to see her taken down a peg. 

Kathryn and Sebastian are loathsome, but while Kathryn spends her time manipulating others for her own enjoyment, Sebastian gradually grows to love Annette, who has heard things about Sebastian's past but chooses to believe in the good in him.   Phillippe convincingly handles his personality transformation in subtle ways which makes it all the more effective.  He isn't big on declarations of love, but we see the change in his eyes and expressions.  It's a nuanced piece of acting.   We can also see why he would fall for Annette, whose purity and gentleness win over Sebastian, which naturally pisses off Kathryn.   She doesn't love Sebastian, mind you, but Sebastian falling for Annette is a loss for Kathryn in her quest to ruin lives.

Cruel Intentions is faithful to the story with a few twists of its own.  It's a well-done remake with Gellar in the Glenn Close role, Phillippe in the John Malkovich role, and Witherspoon in the Michelle Pfeiffer role from the 1988 film.   They live up to their predecessors and we find history repeating itself in this manner:  Malkovich and Pfeiffer wound up falling in love during filming of Dangerous Liaisons.  One year later, Colin Firth and Meg Tilly occupied the same roles in Valmont and fell in love and had a child together.   Phillippe and Witherspoon married soon after this film was released.   There must be something about these roles which cause the actors to fall for each other.