Cruel Intentions
Cruel Intentions movie poster
Directed by	Roger Kumble
Produced by	Neal H. Moritz
Written by	Choderlos de Laclos (novel), Roger Kumble (screenplay)
Starring	Ryan Phillippe Sarah Michelle Gellar Reese Witherspoon Selma Blair Sean Patrick Thomas
Music by	Ed Shearmur
Cinematography	Theo van de Sande
Editing by	Jeff Freeman
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	March 5, 1999
Running time	97 min.
Language	English
Budget	$11,000,000
IMDb profile

Cruel Intentions is a 1999 feature film starring Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Reese Witherspoon and Selma Blair. It was 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), Cruel Intentions was set among the wealthy teens of modern-day New York society (though the principal cast members were all in their twenties). The film was released on March 5, 1999.

The plot concerns a bet made between Kathryn Merteuil (played by Gellar) and her stepbrother Sebastian Valmont (played by Phillippe). Sebastian must seduce Annette Hargrove (played by Witherspoon), a virgin and the daughter of the head master of the private school that the three attend, if Sebastian wishes to sleep with Kathryn. If he fails to do so, Kathryn receives Sebastian's car, a 1956 Jaguar XK140.

The scene where Kathryn teaches Cecile Caldwell (played by Selma Blair) how to kiss, was voted second in the list of "100 Greatest Sexy Moments" in the history of film [1], compiled by Channel 4.

The film later spawned a pilot called Manchester Prep, which was not picked up for broadcast, and two direct-to-video sequels, of which the first, Cruel Intentions 2, consisted of the Manchester Prep pilot reworked to contain new scenes, harsher language, and nudity.

Cast

• Ryan Phillippe - Sebastian Valmont
• Sarah Michelle Gellar - Kathryn Merteuil
• Reese Witherspoon - Annette Hargrove
• Selma Blair - Cecile Caldwell
• Sean Patrick Thomas - Ronald Clifford
• Louise Fletcher - Helen Rosemond
• Joshua Jackson - Blaine Tuttle
• Christine Baranski - Bunny Caldwell
• Eric Mabius - Greg McConnell
• Swoosie Kurtz - Dr. Regina Greenbaum
• Tara Reid - Marcie Greenbaum

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack features the popular songs "Every Me Every You" by Placebo, "Colorblind" by Counting Crows, "Coffee & TV" by Blur, "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve, "Praise You" by Fatboy Slim and "Secretly" by Skunk Anansie.

External links

Selma Blair as Cecile Caldwell

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Cruel Intentions

• Cruel Intentions at the Internet Movie Database
• [2] A 1998 draft of the film script. Several extensive changes to the script have been made before the movie was ready.