Rating summary
Movie | | 4.0 |
Video | | 4.5 |
Audio | | 3.5 |
Extras | | 3.5 |
Overall | | 4.0 |
Cruel Intentions Blu-ray Movie Review
Cruelty Is Universal
Reviewed by Michael Reuben August 31, 2011
Imitation is a sincere form of flattery, but it's rarely an exact imitation. I once wrote a paper
comparing Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra with the version called All for Love written in
1678 by the poet John Dryden, whose finely honed verse was considered small compensation for
the reduced stature of his characters. Dryden's Anthony was a professional soldier undone by
politics, not the tragically heroic battle lord drawn by Shakespeare, while the Cleopatra that
wooed him was a charming schemer and hardly the doomed, epic heroine that Shakespeare
forged into a classic role cherished by great actresses. Dryden's failure to create towering
characters may have condemned his play to less of an afterlife than Shakespeare's, but I argued
that he had written exactly the kind of play and characters he intended, because in Dryden's time
the great passions that had seemed so compelling for Shakespeare's age had fallen out of fashion,
and grandeur wasn't what it used to be.
Similar considerations apply to Roger Kumble's Cruel Intentions, which borrowed a general plot
outline from the French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos, but reset it in a
contemporary New York peopled by rich, spoiled teens in a kind of precursor to Gossip Girl. So
liberal is the plot's translation that the less the viewer knows about the original, the better,
because the behavior of the film's puerile trash-talkers will seem more credible if one isn't
constantly ticking off a checklist of reference points to Laclos' novel or the various films and
plays that have been made from it, including Stephen Frears's Dangerous Liaisons from 1988.
(And just to illustrate my point about imitation, this opening is an homage to the introductory
style of a fellow reviewer. But I won't say which one.)
Cruel Intentions takes place in a hermetically sealed world of wealth where callow teens who
have grown up wanting for nothing have concluded that ordinary rules don't apply to them. The
king and queen of this world are a pair of vipers who were made for each other, but instead of
becoming a traditional couple, they're step-siblings, their parents having married each other after
divorces. Kathryn Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Sebastian Valmont (Ryan Phillippe)
share the same "I want what I want when I want it" approach to sex, but despite the David
Mamet-style frankness of their conversation, it's clear that the physical act of intimacy isn't what
interests them. It's the conquest, the subjugation of another person, the obliteration of his or her
will. That's why, despite their obvious attraction, they've never slept together. Neither will
submit to the other.
In the opening scene, Sebastian conquers (indirectly) his celebrity therapist, Dr. Greenbaum
(Swoosie Kurtz, whose appearance is a nod to
Dangerous Liaisons, in which she also appeared),
who has authored a bestseller on good parenting. Sebastian feigns a sincere session, which he
leaves just before the doctor takes a tearful call from her daughter, Marci (Tara Reid), who has
just discovered the nude pictures of her that Sebastian posted on the internet in a parody of her
mother's book cover. Dr. Greenbaum races after Sebastian, who grins while she pounds on a
window, in a shot that's a direct quotation from
The Graduate, one of director Kumble's favorite
films (I've included it in the extra screenshots).
But while Sebastian can be public and swaggering about his exploits, his stepsister Kathryn must
maintain a veneer of respectability. She's the class president of their elite private school, and
when Sebastian returns from therapy, she's receiving a visit from Mrs. "Bunny" Caldwell
(Christine Baranski, who took the role because her daughters were huge fans of Gellar's
Buffy
series). Mrs. Caldwell's daughter, Cecile (a pouting Selma Blair), is transferring. Will Kathryn
take her under her protective wing?
Unknown to Mrs. Caldwell, Kathryn's wing is laced with razor blades. Cecile is just a pawn in her cold-hearted game with Sebastian. Another
pawn is Annette Hargrove (Reese Witherspoon), daughter of the new headmaster, who is Sebastian’s latest target, because he considers her a major
challenge. But while Sebastian is busy mustering all his powers to seduce the virtuous Annette, he slips ups and commits the one truly unforgivable sin
in the vicious world that he and Kathryn inhabit: He begins to have feelings for his conquest In a romantic comedy, that would be a breakthrough, but
in
Cruel Intentions it triggers a cascade of disasters.
I've seen the film multiple times, including in its first theatrical run, and each time I wonder
whether it'll hold together. It always does, because writer/director Kumble and his production
team never lost sight of their central subject. Yes, this is a highly stylized, artificial and isolated
world, even down to its wardrobe and language; but that's what vast wealth can buy you. Yes,
these high school students speak an adult vocabulary describing acts of which their knowledge
seems more theoretical than real ("I wanna fuck!" shrieks Kathryn, who sounds like she's
describing an exercise class); it's an expression of their essential boredom with a life in which
everything is antiseptically easy. ("I'm sick of sleeping with these insipid Manhattan
debutantes!" exclaims Sebastian. "Nothing shocks them anymore.") The only experience that
quickens the pulse for these kids enough to make them feel alive is the sensation of bringing
another to heel; hence the incessant power games. Sure, their cruel behavior looks tawdry,
offensive and cheap, but so does a lot of socially acceptable adult conduct when it's stripped of
its usual disguises and played out by children. (Consider how unappealing Gordon Gekko's
seductively competitive greed appeared when it was enacted by the youthful Sean Parker in
The
Social Network.)
You have to admire Kumble's honesty (and his daring). He took a pedigreed literary source, then
systemically dispensed with every element that might have allowed his film to claim some shred
of that source's respectability. Out went the period setting, the high-toned language, the costume
drama: everything that might have given
Cruel Intentions the slightest hint of a "prestige"
picture. All he retained was the inexorable logic of vicious people doing nasty things. "Before we
go through with this, I just want to make you aware of the damage we're about to cause",
Sebastian says to Kathryn at one point. She pauses for a second in mock thought: "I'm aware."
And she is.
Cruel Intentions Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality
Even though Cruel Intentions is set in modern times, Kumble wanted its visual design to
emphasize the rarefied world in which its characters exist. He asked Dutch cinematographer
Theo van de Sande to give the film a rich period look unlike anything van de Sande had shot
since leaving his native country to shoot comedies such as Wayne's World in America. The
1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray reproduces van de Sande's velvety textures with superb detail but
no artificial sharpening, ringing or edge enhancement. Sony's commitment to film-like transfers
is evident even in this early Blu-ray release, with its solid black levels, excellent color rendition
and lack of any compression or other artifacts. Van de Sande says at one point in the "Creative
Intentions" featurette that the film's visual philosophy was "everything beautiful except the story
itself". The Blu-ray conveys that achievement.
Cruel Intentions Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality
The DTS lossless track reproduces the film's 5.1 mix with good fidelity, but it's a largely front-centered mix
with little in the way of surround activity. Dialogue and music are the key elements.
The dialogue remains firmly anchored to the center and is always intelligible. The music consists
of moody, atmospheric underscoring by Ed Shearmur (an earlier score by John Ottman, who is
still listed in the credits in the film's trailer, was rejected), and songs by artists including Fatboy
Slim, Aimee Mann, Counting Crows, Placebo and Marcy Underground.
Cruel Intentions Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras
The extras have been ported over from the 1999 "collector's edition" DVD. Only the trailer has
been omitted, consistent with Sony's frequent practice on Blu-ray.
- Commentary with Writer/Director Roger Kumble, Producers Neil Moritz and
Heather Zeegen, Cinematographer Theo van de Sande, Production Designer Jon
Gary Steele, Costume Designer Denise Wingate and Composer Ed Shearmur:
Kumble repeatedly protests (too much!) that he was a first-time director who had no idea
what he was doing, but his ability to lead a large group of people effectively is
demonstrated in this group commentary that remains focused and informative throughout
the film's running time.
Much of the discussion is directed at the techniques of achieving the film's glossy
style on a limited budget. The concept was to give the film a "period" look
without being obvious about it. Thus, the formality of the costumes; the
prevalence of antique furniture; the use of rotary phones; Sebastian's classic car.
However, anything that called too much attention to itself was forbidden.
Composer Ed Shearmur notes that he was told never to use a harpsichord in his
score.
Kumble offers numerous observations on the actors' performances. Of particular
interest are his observations on Witherspoon and Phillippe, who were a couple
during filming, and used their rapport to develop the relationship between Annette
and Sebastian. This ultimately deepened the scene, but was hard on the actors
when they had to perform Sebastian's brutal break-up.
- Deleted Scenes (SD; 1.85:1, non-enhanced; 17:44): There are six scenes in all. Most
have introductions by Kumble explaining why they were dropped; those without introduction
are slightly longer versions of existing scenes. The most notably consistent thread running
through the deletions is the extent to which overt violence and hostility were toned down,
in favor of attitude and implied threat. The scenes in which (a) Sebastian blackmails Greg
over his homosexuality, (b) Kathryn taunts Sebastian when he comes to "collect" on the
wager, and ( c) Kathryn incites Ronald to attack Sebastian, were all more overt and ugly
in their original versions. Kumble speaks about losing the audience's sympathy, but the
original versions would also have shattered the controlled tone that sustains the film's
illusion of an alternate universe in which these events play themselves out.
- The Making of Cruel Intentions (SD; 1.33:1; 5:56): This is an EPK-like featurette
featuring interviews with Kumble, Moritz and the principal cast. It's entertaining but not
particularly deep.
- Creative Intentions: Finding a Visual Style (SD; 1.33:1; 21:39): This more substantive
featurette focuses on the creative contributions of the cinematographer, costume designer
and production designer. Though there is overlap with the commentary track, the
featurette gives each department head an opportunity to discuss his or her background and
provide a general overview of their approach to the film.
- Music Videos (SD; 7:29): Marcy Playground, "Coming Up from Behind" (1.33:1);
Placebo, "Every Place You Go" (1.85:1)
Cruel Intentions Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation
In its own day, Laclos' "classic" novel was not considered a classic. Indeed, even though it sold
well, it was generally regarded as trash. Classic status came much later. So it's ironic when
people dismiss Cruel Intentions as a pale imitation of great works like the original novel, or the
Frears film (which is so entertaining precisely because Frears and his cast understood that they
were making a juicy costume soap opera) or the 1989 Miloš Forman-directed Valmont (which
has its moments but is frankly quite dull). Cruel Intentions fits right in with its predecessors in
exploiting Laclos' geometrically precise plotting to show us yet another face of cruelty. In this
version, unlike in the Frears film, the word most definitely does not have a nobler ring to
it.