Review of Cruel Intentions (1999) by Billy B — 07 Dec 2009

Smart. This is a very smart film with dialogue some people won't even get. It manages to reel you in with a mixture of seductive scenes, with added tension and awkwardness. It's makes sure you keep up with it alot of the time, which helps you fully understand what's happening. The ending wasn't expected, but was definately a key scene and one of the best in the entire film. As far as teen drama's go, this is a slightly different take on the genre, and succeeds in keeping you intrigued and entertained until the very end.

The plot is a modern take on a story from a frew dec ades ago. It's so devishly intriguing, and I think the fact that the few cliche's there are, differ a little was another point in giving the film the upper hand in entertaining you. The characters all had back story's explained throughout, ad each character had a certain likeablen quality to them, except the role of Kathryn, who at one point you sympathised with, before the ending.

The acting was sensational. "Sarah Michelle Gellar" was amazing as "Karthryn", the seductive and manipulative bitch step-sister. She was able to give us no expression, but also managing to move one feature on her face to let us know what mood she was in. "Ryan Phillippe" was the other star, as the ladies man who falls in love. Him and "Reese Witherspoon" managed to keep their love triangle strong and believable throughout. "Selma Blair" was very funny and innocent in her role, which she portrayed very well.

Overall "Cruel Intentions" is a smart and witty entry to the teem drama genre, and is seductively entertaining. My rating is 3/5.