Review of Dangerous Liaisons (1988) by Shade C — 28 Feb 2008

A beautiful destructively cruel but mesmerising film (and very good adaptation of the book).

Every time I watch this I get sucked in again.

In this clever little gem, we watch as the upper class who have too much money and time on their hands, spend most of that time dabbling in gossip, intrigue, deception, and the destruction of others reputations and minds...mostly by means of some seductive torment. The ultimate result being the downfall of all their carefully constructed worlds.

Glenn Close and John Malkovich are cast brilliantly in this film. Each embracing their roles and toying with everyone in cleverly subtle (as well as horribly obvious) ways - including we the audience.

Michelle Pfieffer also fits her character well, though I can't really say the same for Uma Thurman and Keanu Reeves, but that's not really a surprise now is it.

The sets, landscape, and costumes are beautiful, and I have to say the intrigue and games they play lend themselves much more to this era then any modern adaptation (Cruel Intentions doesn't hold up to this in any way).

I know it seems odd for me to give 4 stars when it looks like I'm heaping praise, but I must admit there are moments where it slows down too much, and you can feel a drag (and of course the Thurman and Reeves debacle doesn't help).

I may be bias, as I seem to be drawn to flicks with fabulous dialogue, and I seem to have a liking for period films also, but no one can deny that you get completely sucked into this one.

Give it a go people!