Ms. Blair is gangly, naive and just sexy enough to make a believable target. Cruel Intentions carries on in viciously high spirits, helped by a strong supporting cast that includes Dawson's Creek 's Joshua Jackson as a bleached-hair blackmail accomplice and Sean Patrick Thomas as a pawn who decides he's had enough. You'd so like to see Cruel Intentions stick to its guns, to the extent that the story arch will allow. As Sebastian falls for his prey, as pieces begin to fall into place, a sharp spear of a film turns into just another earnest teen movie. Mild tragedy strikes.
Justice is served.
To be fair, the original story wraps up with caution and consequence. It's just that Mr. Kumble's tone shifts so drastically that you feel like you've dozed off and awoken in another movie. Cruel Intentions ends up feeling like a film that somebody monkeyed with, in the hopes of easing the tone or forcing redemption where it truly doesn't belong. But the initial feel of Cruel Intentions is so audacious that the comedown is truly a letdown. This is one movie that could have and should have served its just deserts without getting sugary.