| Cruel Intentions | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Roger Kumble |
| Produced by | Neal H. Moritz |
| Written by | Choderlos de Laclos (Novel) Roger Kumble |
| Starring | Sarah Michelle Gellar Ryan Phillipe Reese Witherspoon Selma Blair Louise Fletcher Swoosie Kurtz Sean Patrick Thomas Christine Baranski |
| Music by | Edward Shearmur |
| Cinematography | Theo Van De Sande |
| Editing by | Jeff Freeman |
| Studio | Original Film Newmarket Capital Group |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | March 5, 1999 |
| Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English French |
| Budget | $11 million |
| Box office | $75,902,208[1] |
Cruel Intentions is a 1999 American drama film starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair. The film is an adaptation of the 18th-century French epistolary novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Laclos and is set among wealthy teenagers living in modern New York City.
The film started as an independent film with a small budget, and was later picked up by Columbia Pictures. It was released on March 5, 1999 and was followed by two direct-to-video films: a prequel, Cruel Intentions 2, and a sequel, Cruel Intentions 3.
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The wealthy and popular Kathryn Merteuil (Gellar) takes the sheltered and naïve Cecile Caldwell (Blair) under her wing, promising to turn Cecile into a model student. Kathryn's real intention, however, is to take revenge on her ex-lover, who dumped her. Kathryn asks her step-brother, Sebastian Valmont (Phillippe) to seduce Cecile; he refuses. He is planning to seduce dedicated virgin Annette Hargrove (Witherspoon). Doubting Sebastian's chance of success, they make a wager: If Kathryn wins, she gets Sebastian's vintage Jaguar; if Sebastian wins, Kathryn will have sex with him. Sebastian agrees.
Ronald Clifford, Cecile's music teacher, is in love with Cecile. Sebastian's seduction of Annette fails. Cecile's mother, Mrs. Caldwell, who met Annette at her school, warned Annette of Sebastian's reputation. Wanting revenge on the Caldwells, he tells Kathryn he will seduce Cecile. Kathryn tells Cecile's mother about Ronald and Cecile's romance. Mrs. Caldwell intervenes. Sebastian, in turn, calls Cecile to his house, ostensibly to give her a letter from Ronald. Sebastian 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.
Sebastian falls in love with Annette, who returns his feelings but resists him. Sebastian calls her a hypocrite, so she relents, but Sebastian, in turn, refuses her. Annette flees to her friend's parents' estate. Sebastian tracks her down and professes his love, and they become lovers. As he has won the bet, Kathryn offers herself to Sebastian the next day, but he refuses; he now wants Annette only. Kathryn taunts him and threatens to ruin Annette's reputation, so Sebastian pretends indifference to Annette and coldly breaks up with her.
After Sebastian tells Kathryn that he has broken with Annette and arranged for Cecile and Ronald to be together, Kathryn reveals that she has known all along that he was truly in love with Annette and manipulated him into giving her up. She then rejects him. Sebastian sends Annette his journal, in which he has detailed all of Kathryn's maneuvers and written his true feelings for Annette. Ronald confronts Sebastian in the middle of the street and a fight ensues. Annette tries to stop it. She is thrown into the way of an oncoming cab. Sebastian pushes her to safety and is hit by the speeding cab himself. Before he dies, they profess their love for each other.
At Sebastian's funeral Cecile distributes copies of Sebastian's journal, made into a book by Annette, titled "Cruel Intentions". Kathryn is humiliated and rejected by her former friends. Annette drives away in Sebastian's Jaguar.
Cruel Intentions received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 48% based on reviews from 77 critics, or an average score of 5.3/10, with the site's consensus stating; "Even in a slick package and an attractive cast, the movie succumbs to bad acting and a bad script."[2] Metacritic gave the film an average score of 56% based on reviews from 24 critics.[3] However, the film has gained somewhat of a cult following. Charles Taylor of Salon.com described the film as "The Dirtiest-minded American movie in recent memory - and an honestly corrupt entertaining picture is never anything to sneeze at."[4] Stephen Holden The New York Times stated, "You have the queasy sense that the whole thing is just an elaborate stunt, and in this case an exploitative one."[5]
Cruel Intentions was a commercial success. The film grossed $13,020,565 in its opening weekend, ranking #2 behind Analyze This; released in 2,312 theaters, the movie raked in $75,902,208 worldwide.[1]
The film received the following awards and nominations:
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Blockbuster Entertainment Awards | Favorite Supporting Actress (Reese Witherspoon) | Won |
| Golden Slate Awards | Best Original Score | Won | |
| Best Actress in a Leading Role (Sarah Michelle Gellar) | Nominated | ||
| Best Movie | Nominated | ||
| Best Movie Soundtrack | Won | ||
| Best Teen Movie | Nominated | ||
| MTV Movie Awards | Best Female Performance (Sarah Michelle Gellar) | Won | |
| Best Kiss (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Selma Blair) | Won | ||
| Best Male Performance (Ryan Phillippe) | Nominated | ||
| Best Villain (Sarah Michelle Gellar) | Nominated | ||
| Teen Choice Awards | Best Film – Drama | Won | |
| Best Actor (Ryan Phillippe) | Nominated | ||
| Best Actress (Reese Witherspoon) | Nominated | ||
| Sexiest Love Scene (Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Phillippe) | Nominated |
The Cruel Intentions soundtrack is a compilation soundtrack released on March 9, 1999 by Arista/Virgin Records. It reached number 60 on Billboard chart.
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