Cruel Intentions (1999)
Cast characters
Sarah Michelle
Gellar as Kathryn Merteuil
Ryan Phillippe as Sebastian Valmont
Reese Witherspoon
as Annette Hargrove
Selma Blair as Cecile Caldwell
Sean Patrick Thomas
as Ronald Clifford
Joshua Jackson as Blaine Tuttle
Eric Mabius as Greg
McConnell
Louise Fletcher as Helen Rosemond
Christine Baranski as Bunny
Caldwell
Swoosie Kurtz as Dr. Regina Greenbaum
Tara Reid as Marcie Greenbaum
Cruel Intentions is a 1999 American feature film starring
Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair. The
movie is a drama film based on the 18th century French novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses,
but unlike other modern film versions of the novel (such as Dangerous Liaisons
and Valmont), which are set in the France of that time, Cruel Intentions is set
among the wealthy teens of modern-day New York society. The plot is mainly driven
by a bet held between the two main characters, and it heavily involves manipulation,
seduction, and love in a rich and sophisticated socially elite youth atmosphere.
The film started as an independent film with a much smaller budget, it was later
picked up by Columbia Pictures. The film was released on March 5, 1999. It was
later followed by two direct-to-video films: a prequel, Cruel Intentions 2, and
a sequel, Cruel Intentions 3.
Plot
Kathryn
Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Gellar) takes fresher, Cecile Caldwell (Selma Blair)
under her wing, promising to turn her to a model student like herself. Her real
intention, however, is to take revenge on her ex lover who had dumped her for
the "innocent little twit", Cecile. She intends to corrupt Cecile by
getting her to sleep with as many men as possible, thereby destroying her reputation
and teaching her ex-lover a lesson.
She asks for the help of her womanizing step-brother, Sebastian Valmont (Ryan Phillippe), but he refuses. He is busy planning another "conquest" — Annette Hargrove (Reese Witherspoon), the virginal daughter of the new headmaster of their school, who has written a manifesto saying she plans to wait for marriage. Fortunately for Sebastian, she is temporarily staying at his aunt's estate. Kathryn doesn't think he has a chance with Annette and they make a wager — if Kathryn wins, she gets Sebastian's vintage Jaguar; if Sebastian wins, he gets to sleep with Kathryn, something she has been denying him ever since their parents got married.
Kathryn, meanwhile, teaches Cecile what 'first base' is by making out with her. She then encourages her to try it out with her black music teacher, Ronald, who is also smitten with Cecile. Kathryn makes arrangements for Ronald and Cecile to spend time together, hoping that he would 'deflower' Cecile before Court does.
Sebastian, on the other hand, has a hard time seducing Annette. She sees right through him and rejects his advances. He learns that Annette has been forewarned of his ways by none other than Cecile's mother. Wanting revenge, he joins Kathryn in her plans to corrupt Cecile.
Kathryn engineers Ronald's break-up with Cecile by informing her mother. Sebastian, in turn, calls Cecile to his house to give her a letter from Ronald. Once at his house, he blackmails Cecile and goes down on her. The next day, Cecile confides in Kathryn who advises her to learn the art of sex from Sebastian so that she can make Ronald happy in bed.
Meanwhile, Sebastian is genuinely falling for Annette, who returns his feelings but still has her defenses up. He accuses her of being a hypocrite — she preaches to wait for love, and yet refuses to sleep with the guy she loves. Annette relents, but Sebastian, now feeling guilty, refuses. However, when she leaves the estate, heartbroken, he tracks her down and they consummate their relationship.
The next day, Kathryn offers herself to Sebastian as part of the bet but he refuses. She taunts him for having gone soft, then convinces him that his love for Annette is nothing more than a passing infatuation. Sebastian breaks up with Annette and returns to Kathryn, who now refuses to sleep with him. After Sebastian tells Kathryn that he has arranged for Cecile and Ronald to be together, she elaborates - she had known all along that he was truly in love, yet she manipulated him to give it up. While Sebastian may have initially won the bet, she made him lose his first true love, and she, Kathryn, did not "fuck losers".
Sebastian realizes his mistake. He sends Annette his journal, in which he has detailed all his "conquests", hoping she would learn the truth for herself and forgive him. Kathryn, meanwhile, informs Ronald of Sebastian's affair with Cecile whilst pretending that Sebastian had hit her and in a deleted scene Kathryn tells Ronald Sebastian had called him the 'n' word, making him very angry towards Sebastian. Ronald confronts Sebastian in the middle of the street and a fight ensues. Annette, in search of Sebastian, walks in on the fight and tries to break it up. She is pushed into the way of an oncoming cab. Sebastian pushes her to safety and is hit by the cab himself. The accident kills him.
At his funeral, Kathryn gives a speech to the school about how she had tried to get Sebastian to mend his ways and become a model student like herself. Halfway through her speech, students start walking out. The reason — Cecile is distributing copies of Sebastian's journal to all the students. The journal illustrates Kathryn's manipulative and deceitful ways, including the fact that she hides a vial of cocaine in a crucifix she wears round her neck. The headmaster takes Kathryn's crucifix and opens it, emptying the cocaine. Kathryn's reputation is destroyed.
In a "bittersweet" ending, Annette drives away in Sebastian's Jaguar with his journal by her side.
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