Review of Cruel Intentions (1999) by Bill S — 18 May 2015

I really wanted to like this movie because not only had I heard a lot about it, it seemed to be kind of a 90's classic. But it was kind of hard to love it and even hate it, but still I wasn't as pleased as I hoped for. First of all, the characters were extremely manipulative, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillipe's characters were complete sociopaths, although Gellar's was more of my liking because she kind of was the strong woman that simply was putting all of her energy on the wrong places, while also she was great at playing her. Meanwhile Ryan's character I didn't like at all, plus I really hated how they tried to make you fall in love with him even though at the beginning he was a complete douche who had no respect for women, or anyone. But still it seemed as if even the smarter character wasn't smart enough, because at the end of the day everyone fell for him or was dumb enough to not see through him. Also, the movie wasn't very sexy, but it was rather uncomfortable at times, specially the scene when Sebastian and Cecile have their first intimate encounter, it was kind of forceful and disgusting, as if she didn't have control over her body and he just did as he pleased simply because she was not very bright. Moving forward, Reese Witherspoon on the other side kind of gave that other balance to the movie but it wasn't very late until she fell in love with the lead and that love story wasn't very realistic to me. But thankfully the ending was kind of unexpected and really brought my attention to the film. It was indeed a satisfactory ending that aligned very well with what should've been a dark tone for the movie. Overall, it featured some good performances from very well known actors, however the story was too manipulative content-wise, although it is hard to negate the nostalgic tones it brings to everyone that grew up on the 90's. Thus, it is a good watch but don't expect to end with a good taste.

~May 19, 2015~.