Some books have been turned into several different movies over the years with some versions being much better than others. Every so often, a story originally set a few hundred years in the past gets updated to modern times, sometime having the main characters be much younger as well. Cruel Intentions was one of those movies.

Sebastian Valmont already had a reputation for using girls for sex even though he was only in high school. He and his stepsister Kathryn Merteuil enjoyed making bets with each other that caused them to manipulate others. Kathryn was upset about being dumped and wanted Sebastian to seduce Cecil, the young innocent girl her ex had started to see. Sebastian wasn’t interested since he had already set his sights on Annette Hargrove, a girl who had written an article about staying a virgin. Kathryn decided to bet Sebastian that he couldn’t seduce Annette. If she won, she got his car. If he won, Kathryn would willingly have sex with him.

Because of Kathryn’s good girl reputation, Cecil’s mother Bunny actually went to Kathryn to get her to help Cecil. Kathryn used that to start corrupting Cecil, even going so far as to teach Cecil how to kiss. Sebastian decided to do what Kathryn asked and set out to teach Cecil about sex while trying to seduce Annette. Things were harder than he expected since someone had warned Annette about Sebastian. He actually started to develop feelings for her. It seemed like he started to have doubts about what he and Kathryn were doing while she relished playing with the lives of others.

Cruel Intentions was based on the book Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos. The book as well as other movie versions, have been set in eighteenth century France. Probably the most well known of those versions is Dangerous Liaisons. I have seen that movie a few times, though it has been several years since I last saw it. This version was updated and set in modern times with wealthy teenagers as the main characters. Even with the different setting and different ages of the characters, the plot still managed to be very similar to Dangerous Liaisons.

There was a lot going on throughout Cruel Intentions which did make the plot somewhat complicated. It wasn’t hard to follow or keep track of what was going on though. Basically everything that happened was connected to the bet that Sebastian and Kathryn made. Sebastian was going after Annette while also teaching Cecil about sex to turn her into a sex manic so Kathryn’s ex wouldn’t want her anymore. Kathryn acted like a goody goody, which gave her the opportunity to spend time with Cecil and start to manipulate her. Kathryn enjoyed pulling the strings that would ruin other people. There really wasn’t any mystery to the movie and no suspense, but there were a few surprises. I did think that the plot was very entertaining.

Sex played a big part in what was going on throughout Cruel Intentions. Sebastian had a reputation for having sex with as many girls as he could. He saw seduction as a game and didn’t care about the feelings of the girls he used. He was amused by Annette planning to remain a virgin and he saw breaking her resolve on that the ultimate challenge. He was doing everything he could to tempt her, even making sure she saw him naked at one point. He had wanted to have sex with Kathryn for a long time but she kept refusing, probably so she could keep that bit of power over him. His desire for her is how she got him to accept the bet in the first place since she was going to have sex with him if he won. Kathryn was very sexual and enjoying having sex with different boys, which was why her exboyfriend dumped her. That made her mad enough that she decided she was going to turn Cecil into a slut. Sebastian eventually decided to help by seducing Cecil while he was still going after Annette. There were several sexual situations and discussions, some of which were rather graphic. There was one actual sex scene later in the movie that wasn’t that explicit. At one point, Kathryn decided to teach Cecil how to kiss, and that scene is probably the most known from the movie. The sexual content may bother or even outright disturb some viewers.

Kathryn and Sebastian were two bored, rich, teenagers who used others for their own amusement. They were step siblings and did seem to have a competitive relationship. Their parents weren’t shown even once. It was said at one point where they were and that was basically all that was said about them. That left Kathryn and Sebastian alone with no adult supervision and they took full advantage of it. Kathryn pretended to be perfect but she was really evil. She enjoyed making others miserable for her own enjoyment. Sarah Michelle Gellar was wonderful in the part. Sebastian started off just as bad, but he did seem to change a bit by the end of the movie. Ryan Phillippe was very good in the part.

Annette and Cecil were also important to the overall plot even though they weren’t as developed as Kathryn and Sebastian. Annette was a very nice girl who had decided that she was going to wait to have sex. She felt so strongly about it that she had written an article about her decision that was published in a magazine. She tried to discourage Sebastian, but his persistence did seem to make her doubt what she believed about him. Reese Witherspoon handled the part very well.

I believe that Cecil was supposed to be slightly younger than Kathryn and Sebastian. Cecil was also a virgin who didn’t seem that interested in boys when she first met Kathryn. Cecil was clueless about certain things, which made her more vulnerable to Kathryn’s manipulations. Selma Blair handled the part well. Bunny, Cecil’s mother, was very over protective and a bit controlling. She expected certain things from her daughter and wanted her to be more elegant and refined, like Kathryn acted around others. Rodney, Cecil’s music teacher, only turned up in a few scenes.

Main Cast

Selma Blair - Cecil
Sarah Michelle Gellar - Kathryn
Ryan Phillippe - Sebastian
Reese Witherspoon - Annette

Roger Kumble - Director

I first saw Cruel Intentions in the theater when it first came out. Since then I have seen it a few more times on television. The movie is edited when it turns up on some channels tp remove the swearing and some of the sexual content. The movie did deserve the R rating and it definitely isn’t a movie for children. I found it on one of my HBO channels when I watched it again recently.

Cruel Intentions was a very entertaining movie with strong performances from the young cast. It was one of the updated versions of an older story that worked very well.

This review is part of elvisdo’s 2008 Canadiania Write-off. Some of the movie was filmed in Toronto and Joshua Jackson is from Vancouver.

Reese Witherspoon Movie Reviews
Just Like Heaven ~ Legally Blonde ~ Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde ~ Rendition ~ Sweet Home Alabama ~ Walk the Line ~


Recommended: Yes