A clever reworking of a literary classic.
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03/05/02
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Cruel Intentions (1999)
47
%
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Reviews Counted:76
Fresh:36
Rotten:40
Average Rating:5.3/10
Consensus: Even in a slick package and an attractive cast, the movie succumbs to bad acting and a bad script.
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Director Roger Kumble transfers the DANGEROUS LIASONS tale to Manhattan, where wealthy prep school student Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) bets her stepbrother Sebastian (Ryan Phillipe) that he... [More]
Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, Selma Blair
Director: Roger Kumble
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Reviews for Cruel Intentions
Cruel Intentions takes the incredible brilliance of de Laclos's 1782 novel and makes it...a teeny bit dull.
07/09/01
Rarely has a film elicited more raucous unintended laughter.
05/11/01
Top CriticThe movie as a whole sometimes pushes its own limits and, truth be said, it is pretty sleazy at times. But, it's enjoyable in a trashy, Wild Things kind of way.
02/27/01
A guilty pleasure.
01/01/01
One can be especially glad that they are not really teens, and that this cruel tale is only a movie.
01/01/00
Starts off as a twisted, messed up mind game, but ends up a typically sappy love story that, strangely, isn't even about love.
01/01/00
Roger Kumble has assembled not just stars, but talent who lend the material and characters the depth they deserve.
01/01/00
You may not like what you see, but you will enjoy it.
01/01/00
As a serious study of vapid youth, Cruel Intentions vacillates between the cynically pretentious and the shallowly silly.
01/01/00
Top CriticRent Dangerous Liaisons and save yourself the trouble.
01/01/00
A sly, silly, mostly well-crafted diversion that's no trash classic, but has little to apologize for.
01/01/00
Not quite as clever as it thinks it is, but still oozing more dark wit than most teen movies can dream of.
01/01/00
Cruel Intentions is the dirtiest-minded American movie in recent memory -- and an honestly corrupt entertaining picture is never anything to sneeze at.
01/01/00
The initial feel of Cruel Intentions is so audacious that the comedown is truly a letdown.
01/01/00
Top CriticSolid dialogue, luscious characters, great comic relief, and an admittedly classic story give it wings above the standard teen-oriented dreck on the market.
01/01/00
It's disappointing when movies made by adults treat kids -- as characters and viewers -- with disdain.
01/01/00
The themes are intact, and for some fans of the original story, that should be all that matters.
01/01/00
Though writer-director Roger Kumble doesn't fully exploit this conceit, Cruel Intentions is still briskly enjoyable, what people might call a 'guilty pleasure' -- only it's the sort of film that would mock anyone who felt guilt in pleasure.
01/01/00
Top CriticWitty, raunchy!
01/01/00
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