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Dangerous Liaisons (1988)

tomatometer

83

Average Rating: 6.5/10
Critic Reviews: 6
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 1

No consensus yet.

audience

84

liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 42,075

My Rating

Movie Info

Adapted for stage and screen several times over the past century, French author Francois Choderlos de Laclos' 1782 novel Les Liasons Dangeureuses was the basis for this Academy Award-winning Stephen Frears film. The plot is motivated by a cruel wager between the beautiful but debauched Marquise de Merteuil (Glenn Close) and her misogynistic former lover, the Vicomte de Valmont (John Malkovitch). The Marquise challenges Valmont to seduce the virginal Cecile de Volanges (Uma Thurman) before the

R, 2 hr.

Drama

Christopher Hampton

May 1, 2001

Warner Home Video

Cast

All Critics (28) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (25) | Rotten (2) | DVD (4)

This incisive study of sex as an arena for manipulative power games takes too long to catch fire and suffers from a deficient central performance.

February 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment (1)
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The creepy plot still holds a certain fascination.

February 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
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Witty, entertaining, if occasionally overripe.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
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Director Stephen Frears accelerates entertainingly through Christopher Hampton's wig-and-powder sado-comedy about sexual mind games in 18th-century France.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
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Tantalizingly wicked -- watching it makes the color rise to your cheeks.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
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An absorbing and seductive movie.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comment
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Emotional cruelty through sexual manipulation is the rule of the game of this smooth transfer of Christopher Hampton's witty play, with an all-American cast, headed by Glenn Close and Michelle Pfeiffer.

April 30, 2007 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

A sombre, manipulative affair in which the dà (C)cor is never allowed to usurp our interest.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

Splendid... full of deliciously devious characters

December 3, 2004 Comment
Kalamazoo Gazette

For a tragedy that carries a strong emotional kick, it's wickedly fun.

February 5, 2004 Comment
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

Close, Malkovich e Pfeiffer aproveitam ao máximo seus fascinantes personagens e os diálogos afiados do roteiro de Hampton, mas o filme é um pouco mais frio do que deveria.

February 3, 2004 Comment
Cinema em Cena

Wicked and well-appointed, this is a deliriously sinful costume a drama.

August 16, 2003 Comment
Nick's Flick Picks

Its vernacular style allows the film to connect easily with present-day morals, sexual politics, and thirst for power.

July 30, 2003 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Stephen Frears' direction is superb -- the design and lighting evoke simultaneous worlds of privilege and squalor, and while the nature of day-to-day life in 18th century France becomes readily apparent, it never becomes distracting.

November 7, 2002 Full Review Source: Netflix | Comment
Netflix

Perhaps the juciest adaptation of the story that one could hope for.

July 25, 2002 Comment
Matinee Magazine
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Dangerous Liaisons

I love France in this time.... pretty dresses. I found it very intriguing and seductive. Proves once more Glenn Close is astonishing and that Keanu Reeves actually has had a good role in his life. WOW.

September 23, 2009
MeetMeinMontauk
Jennifer D

Super Reviewer

good plot JOHN MALKOVICH is a strange actor... he kept the same face the entire time!!! he never showed emotion evan when he died!

September 6, 2008
MissMorganLeee
Morgan Salem

Super Reviewer

    1. Marquise De Merteuil: War.
    – Submitted by Trish G (9 months ago)

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Foreign Titles

  • Gefährliche Liebschaften (DE)
  • Les Liaisons dangereuses (FR)
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