Cruel Intentions (1999)

Two vicious step-siblings of an elite Manhattan prep school make a wager: to deflower the new headmaster's daughter before the start of term.

Director:

Roger Kumble

Writers:

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

Stars:

Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon

7 wins & 14 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 (as Alaina Reed Hall)
Deborah Offner	...	Mrs. Michalak
Tara Reid	...	Marci Greenbaum
Herta Ware	...	Mrs. Sugarman
Hiep Thi Le	...	Mai-Lee

Storyline

Kathryn Merteuil and Sebastian Valmont are seductive, manipulative step-siblings who get what they want when they want it. Kathryn makes a bet with Sebastian: Sebastian must bed Annette, daughter of the headmaster at their school, before the end of summer break. Annette has stated that she would wait until love and marriage to sleep with a man. If Kathryn wins, she gets Sebastian's vintage 1959 Jaguar Roadster. If Sebastian wins, he gets Kathryn, the only girl he knows he'll never have. Also in play is Cecile, a naïve girl whose mother had enlisted Kathryn to help her fit in at her new school. However, Kathryn (with Sebastian's help) plans to ruin Cecile's reputation as revenge on Kat's ex-boyfriend, who left her for Cecile.

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Plot Keywords:

seduction | female female kiss | seductive woman | casual sex | sex scene | 

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Taglines:

Everyone does it, no one talks about it

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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

Country:

USA

Language:

English Vietnamese French

Release Date:

5 March 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cruel Inventions

Filming Locations:

225 Central Park West, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,020,565, 7 March 1999, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$38,328,567

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$75,902,208

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

Despite previous reports, Reese Witherspoon was not pregnant during filming. The movie filmed from June 9, 1998 to July 15, 1998, and Witherspoon had her daughter Ava on September 9, 1999 - a full year after filming the movie. She was, however, pregnant on the press tours for the film.

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Goofs

When Sebastian goes up to the glass in his therapist's office you can see marks from when he hit his forehead against it in previous takes

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Quotes

Sebastian: You amaze me.
Kathryn: Eat me, Sebastian! It's okay for guys like you and Court to fuck everyone. But when I do it, I get dumped for innocent little twits like Cecile. God forbid, I exude confidence and enjoy sex. Do you think I relish the fact that I have to act like Mary Sunshine 24/7 so I can be considered a lady? I'm the Marcia fucking Brady of the Upper East Side, and sometimes I want to kill myself. So there's your psychoanalysis, Dr. Freud. Now tell me, are you in... or are you out?

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Connections

References Coneheads (1993)

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Soundtracks

Lovefool
Written by Nina Persson and Peter Svensson
Performed by The Cardigans
Courtesy of Stockholm Records
By Arrangement with PolyGram Film & TV Music
Published by Stockholm Songs AB

User Reviews

What a brilliant movie!!!

I found this movie to be one of a kind, it was a lot better than I originally thought it would be, the name didn't make the movie sound too good, but after watching the movie I thought it was excellent. I found Reese Witherspoon's performance in this movie to be outstanding, I think SHE was the person who made the movie what it was.

The movie started off by showing what kind of a person Ryan was in the film, but as the movie commenced it showed how he fell in love and by the end of the movie he had done a complete 180 from how he had started. This movie was just so much better than most of the other films I watched in those days, and it got me into not judging a movie by its title or by what other people think. Some people had different views on it, but I thought it was brilliant and I don't think they could have done much more to improve on this movie.