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Most of us are not rich kids who live in New York City, drive Jaguars and live in penthouses. The pleasures and pains teens from high society face would be vastly different than most of us would encounter. Sure, teens are teens, so the problems and feelings are the same, but the kind of games they play can differ from one level of society to the next. Adapted from the novel Les Liaisons dangereuses which was also filmed as “Dangerous Liaisons” in 1988, Cruel Intentions is a reworking of the original novel, which involves two step-siblings, Sebastian (Ryan Phillipe) and Catherine (Sarah Michelle Gellar), who spend their time planning, plotting, manipulating and screwing around.
Amusing each other with their antics of sex, discussing the perfect revenge on the person that betrayed them or just indulging in their own wealth and privilege, they are clearly not the nicest of people. Spoiled, self-centred and sadistic, these two teens of the upper class have their own dark pasts and strong reputations. And given they are brother and sister by marriage, strangely have the hots for each other, and bored with the sexual escapades each of them has with several others, they both want to do it with each other, seeing that as the ultimate experience. But it won’t be that easy for either of them.
Sebastian is bored with the girls he’s used to swooning and screwing, and is ready for a challenge. He reads a story about a girl in a teen magazine, who is waiting for love before she has sex. Her name is Annette (Reese Witherspoon) and she is also the daughter of the new headmaster at the preppy school all our characters attend. Sebastian makes it his mission to bed this girl, and if he doesn’t, Catherine gets his car, a Jaguar XK140. And if Sebastian wins, Catherine will give him what he’s been fantasising about ever since their parents got married. You can guess what that is. The game is set.
To begin with, it’s business as usual for Sebastian who finds a way to meet Annette, and puts on the charms. But she’s got more character and calibre than any other girl he’s met, and she doesn’t fall for his good looks and smooth style, at least not straight away. In the background of his pursuit, Catherine spends her time getting back at various people, and using the more naive and innocent people around her as pawns in her schemes. She’s clever, conniving and seductive, and can get what she wants, when she wants it and from whoever she wants. Keeping tabs on how Sebastian is going with his courting of Annette, she pulls out all the stops to trick him, confuse him or make him stuff up his plans early so she can be the winner.
Despite his past of using girls and quickly ditching them for the next, Sebastian finds his defences dropping once he spends more time with Annette. She is so genuine and natural, Sebastian finds himself falling for her, but Catherine won’t let him forget the bet they’ve made, and when it looks like she is going to lose, decides to mix things up and show just how cruel her intentions really are.
Cruel Intentions was a popular teen film of the late nineties. It starred three big names of the time, and played around with some notions and ideas that were very much adult, although played out by teenagers. I don’t personally know any really rich teens from Manhattan, and I wonder if in real life they are this savvy and sophisticated when it comes to sex and persuasion. In the case of this film, the teens are very grown up, with an air of prowess, self-awareness and intent that is clearly a sign the rich and powerful really do inhabit another world. Their problems and victories would be hard for most of us to understand or even relate to, so we get to live that through the characters of this film. Although they’re not the nicest of people, Sebastian and Catherine have a certain appeal about them. Sebastian is the always smooth, confident and cool guy who can get any girl he wants. And Catherine is the smart, sassy and controlling girl who can make guys do whatever she wants. We’d all like to have those kind of powers sometimes, especially when we’re teens am I right?
At the core of this film, is a love story and I’m assuming you’ve seen the film, because I am going to talk about the ending now. I can’t do this review justice if I leave out the most pivotal and memorable moment of this movie. Going back to what I said at the start about having the perfect song for a scene; Cruel Intentions wrote the book on this.
WARNING – SPOILER ALERT.
When Sebastian is suddenly and unexpectedly killed, we see the funeral unfolding. His step sister Catherine is in the girl’s toilets, reading over her cue cards and putting on her fake face to convince the guests she’s the perfect little role model and actually feels saddened by the death of Sebastian, when in truth she couldn’t care less. She has no idea what shit storm is about to hit her, and when Sebastian’s legacy – his journal – is given to Annette as his way of coming clean of his past and revealing the truth behind everything, she uses this as a way to flush Catherine out for who she really is. Mid way during her speech at the funeral, each of her co-students start to get up and leave the church. Appalled by this, Catherine runs outside, to find all her fellow students with a book in their hands. A copy is handed to her with the words “Cruel Intentions – The Journal of Sebastian Valmont” written on it. She opens the book, and see’s it’s a copy of Sebastian’s private writings, that reveals the details of the bet, how he really felt about Annette, and Catherine’s evil plans (and cocaine addiction), which now all of her co-students and headmaster know about. Nothing is said in this scene, as the music does the talking.
For this films ending, which was rather bitter sweet, what better song to accompany that than The Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony”? One of the greatest songs of all time, with its slow building violins, leading into a full blown rock-orchestra, then those unforgettable lyrics taking flight “It’s a bitter sweet….symphony…that’s life….Try to make ends meet…you’re a slave to the money…then you die”. The perfect song for this ending. I had to ask myself watching this movie again today, did the filmmakers choose the song then cater the ending around it, or was it just stroke of fate this song came out that year, was blasting the airwaves constantly, then used to finish off this film in fine fashion? Who knows, and it doesn’t really matter. But it is a great ending to this film, and as you listen to the song slowly fade out, you find yourself feeling sad that Sebastian’s life was tragically cut short. Starting out as a spoiled brat with only sex and games on his mind, he finds true love for the first time, redeems himself and makes sure the actions of Catherine will not go unknown in his wake.
Cruel Intentions is a highly satisfying and very watchable film, with strong performances from all the cast, and a story that finds you reveling in the sneakiness and cheekiness of it all as you go. It was sophisticated for a teen film, and has gone on to garner something of a cult status. And for my generation, it will always be the film that used that classic, timeless song at the end, giving us an ending we wouldn’t forget anytime soon.
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