Cruel Intentions (1999)

Kathryn makes a bet that her step-brother, Sebastian, won't be able to bed Annette (a virgin, who wants to wait until love). If he loses, Kathryn gets his Jaguar, if he wins, he gets Kathryn.

Director:

Roger Kumble

Writers:

Choderlos de Laclos (novel), Roger Kumble (screenplay)

Stars:

Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon

7 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	Kathryn Merteuil
Ryan Phillippe	...	Sebastian Valmont
Reese Witherspoon	...	Annette Hargrove
Selma Blair	...	Cecile Caldwell
Louise Fletcher	...	Helen Rosemond
Joshua Jackson	...	Blaine Tuttle
Eric Mabius	...	Greg McConnell
Sean Patrick Thomas	...	Ronald Clifford
Swoosie Kurtz	...	Dr. Greenbaum
Christine Baranski	...	Bunny Caldwell
Alaina Reed-Hall	...	Nurse
Deborah Offner	...	Mrs. Michalak
Tara Reid	...	Marci Greenbaum
Herta Ware	...	Mrs. Sugarman
Hiep Thi Le	...	Mai-Lee

Storyline

Kathryn makes a bet that her step-brother, Sebastian, won't be able to bed Annette (a virgin, who wants to wait until marriage) before the start of the school year. If he loses, Kathryn gets his Roadster, if he wins, he gets Kathryn

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Plot Keywords:

bet | virgin | love | jaguar | revenge | 

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Taglines:

What you can't have, you can't resist.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexual dialogue and sexual situations involving teens, language and drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Columbia TriStar

Country:

USA

Language:

English Vietnamese French

Release Date:

5 March 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cruel Inventions

Filming Locations:

5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£898,118 (UK) (18 June 1999)

Gross:

£4,080,631 (UK) (13 August 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Cruel Productions LLC, Newmarket Capital Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The music near the very end of the movie during the funeral eulogy is "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve.

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Goofs

When Katherine and Cecile are in the park kissing, Cecile's hair is behind the green clip, when the kiss it's covering the green clip, then when they finish the green clip is exposed again.

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Quotes

Bunny Caldwell: Keep your legs together. This isn't Jamaica.

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Connections

Referenced in Family Guy: Movin' Out (Brian's Song) (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Praise You"
Written by Fatboy Slim (as Norman Cook) and Camille Yarbrough
Performed by Fatboy Slim
Courtesy of Astralwerks under exclusive license from Skint Records Ltd.
Published by PolyGram International Publishing Inc./Songs of PolyGram International Publishing Inc./Maat Music. Inc.
Features a sample from "Take Yo Praise"
By Camille Yarbrough
Under license from Welk Music Group

User Reviews

Scandalously Ruthless

I'm writing on this movie because there is probably no bigger afficionado on this subject than myself. I've seen this movie thousands of times and must say that it is exquisite. The portrayal of Valmont by Ryan Phillippe is magnificent, and its intriguing to know that the object of his affection, Annette (Reese Witherspoon), is his real life wife. Sarah Michelle Gellar does easily the best acting of her career, not that that says too much. The story is one that has been done many times over (Dangerous Liaisons, Valmont), however, this was an excellent adaptation to this age group and these current times. The fact that the 20 somethings are portraying 17 year old kids is unnoticeable because of the great acting and the portrayal of the story. Phillippe is easily the highlight of the film with his slick portrayal of Valmont. His disregard for others feelings and emotions is ruthless. The piece is without comparison of the trend of terrible teen movies made in the late 90's-early 00-01. This is the only one that takes a serious storyline and portrays it with enough maturity to appeal not only to teens but older audiences as well. The one problem I do have with the movie is the way that Sebastian turns from so evil and wicked to this love sick kid at the end of the film. When you see the deleted scenes on the DVD, you see the original cut of the climatic scene between Valmont and Merteuil. In this scene rather than walk out in near tears, Valmont slaps Kathryn and demands her end of the bet, before he is finally denied and then leaves. This would be a much better scene than the one used. It goes along with the entire idea of the character and when he turns to a sap you feel like Sebastian is turning to a sappy wimp. The film is still an excellent piece and should be regarded as an admirable adaptation of the novel "Les Liasons Dangereuse".