Sexy and decadent (Cruel Intentions (DVD))

Member Name: Alternum

Product:	Cruel Intentions (DVD)
Date:	27/08/00 (74 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Novel plot; great leads; you just feel so deliciously wicked watching it

Disadvantages: You want to see it over and over and over..

Occasionally a film is released that you think you're going to love before you go and see it. More occasionally, the film lives up to your expectations. But it is truly a rare film that makes you immediately want to run back into the cinema and see it all over again.

This film absolutely oozes class, the perfect thing to watch on a summer's evening when you're leaning back on the sofa feeling generally superior about the world. It tells the story of Kathryn and Sebastian, seasoned manipulator of people and seasoned ladykiller respectively, and half-brother and sister, who make an original bet. If Sebastian can bed the new headmaster's daughter, a self-avowed virgin who is waiting for 'the right time', then he will be able to have the one person he has never been able to: Kathryn. And if she wins, she gets his prized green vintage Jaguar. The scene is set, and everything progresses well for Sebastian, until something very unexpected happens. He falls in love.

This is an extremely black comedy, which nonetheless leaves you feeling at the end as if you're about to burst into tears. It's likely to appeal to you more if you have a cynical sense of humour - there are plenty of things which aren't, at first glance, obviously funny, but require thought (and a second viewing!). If such things will draw you to a film, then the presence of Sarah Michelle Gellar playing Kathryn will draw plenty of males, whilst Ryan Philippe as Sebastian will have the ladies swooning..

All in all, this is a classy, sexy film, filled with beautiful people playing the very worst (or is that best?) kind of mind games with each other; and the ending is truly tragic. A classic.

Summary: