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 | virgin | female female kiss | seductive woman | casual sex | 

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Taglines:

Everyone does it...but nobody 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

Gross USA:

$38,773,785

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$76,347,426

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, 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

Writer and director Roger Kumble was inspired by Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995). He felt he had never seen anything like it, "so dark", "fucked up high school". It quickly led him to the thought of doing a new adaptation of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses", but set in high school.

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Goofs

When Cecile and Kathryn are talking secretly in a private room, the hair behind Cecile's ear alternates position from behind her ear to covering her ear.

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Quotes

Kathryn: Oh, Sebastian? That little wager of yours? Count me in.
Sebastian: What are the terms?
Kathryn: If I win, then that hot little car of yours is mine.
Sebastian: And if I win?
Kathryn: [Takes off her jacket to reveal a skimpy-looking tank top] I'll give you something you've been obsessing about ever since our parents got married.
Sebastian: Be more specific.
Kathryn: In English? I'll fuck your brains out.
Sebastian: [a little shocked for a moment, recovers] What makes you think I'll go for that bet? That is a 1956 Jaguar Roadster.
Kathryn: Because I'm the only person you can't...
[...]

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Alternate Versions

In the basic cable version, the scence where Kathrine is telling Bunny about the letters Cecil has recieved from Ronald, the sales woman ask Kathrine if she'll be taking the dress she was looking at when Ms. Caldwell first come into the store, Kathrine says yes, then pulls out her wallet and tells the sales lady that she has forgotten her credit card, Bunny hands the sales lady her card and tells Kathrine it's the least she could do for telling her about Cecil and Ronald. The scene where Kathrine and Sebastian pull Ronald in to talk to them she's wearing the dress.

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Connections

References The Brady Bunch (1969)

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Soundtracks

Secretly
Written by Skin and Len Arran
Performed by Skunk Anansie
Courtesy of Virgin Records Limited
Published by Chrysalis Music

User Reviews

The cruel thing is making somebody watch this garbage...

'Cruel Intentions' updates Choderlos de Laclos 18th Century novel of sex, deception and morality (or lack thereof) for the 'Buffy'/MTV generation and falls flat on its ass. This is a movie so God-awfully embarrassing that you wouldn't even wish it on a Backstreet Boys fan!

All the cleverness, subtlety and ironic wit of the original story is lost in this dumbed down Gen Next mess. It doesn't even work on the trash level of similar superficial crap like 'I Still Know What You Did Last Summer' or 'Wild Things'. It's just plain BAD in every department!

Gellar and Phillippe completely fail to convince as the Machiavellian anti-heroes. You do not believe in them for one second, and that is the major problem with this movie. But not the only problem. The acting is uniformly awful, but special mention must go to Selma Blair who will have you cringing in disbelief. It's a wonder she ever worked again after this. The usually impressive Reese Witherspoon fares the least worst from this turkey, but no-one could seriously claim that this role is one for her to be proud of. Let's just pretend it just never happened, okay?

'Cruel Intentions' is THE PITS. If you're too brain-dead from watching Britney and Christina videos all day, try any of the three previous versions of this story. They are all worth watching, and all demolish this fiasco. And if you want to see a REALLY cynical and wickedly subversive teen spoof try Gregg Araki's 'Nowhere'. It's twenty times the movie this will EVER be! The decision is yours...