Cruel Intentions

Cruel Intentions is a modern version of Choderlos de Laclos' novel "Dangerous Liaisons", which has already been adapted several times. Roger Kumble has not only updated the story to New York in the present, he has also rejuvernated the characters who are now teenagers with rich and absent parents.

The unscrupulous seducer Sebastian Valmont and his half-sister the scheming temptress Kathryn Merteuil make a bet concerning the innocent Annette Hargrove who has announced that she intends to stay a virgin until she marries. Sebastian is confident that he can make her change her point of view of the matter before the summer holiday is over. When Sebastian and Annette meet and get to know each other, the question is who changes the most?

The script is excellent, and so are the cast, but the original story stays the most powerful. In the 18th century the difference between innocence and the loss of it was decisive for a woman's happiness or misfortune, less so today I should think. So on the whole, Ryan Phillippe's Valmont is a lot more harmless than for instance John Malkovich's in Stephen Frears' adaptation, simply titled ("Dangerous Liaisons").