Cruel Intentions

**Cruel Intentions** is a 1999 American teen romantic/drama film written & directed by Roger Kumble which was released on March 5, 1999 by Columbia Pictures.

It is adapted from Pierre Choderlos de Laclos' 1782 novel, "Les Liaisons dangereuses."

## Plot

Kathryn Merteuil makes a bet with her step-brother, Sebastian that he can deflower the new headmaster's daughter, Annette Hargrove before the beginning of the school year.

## Cast

* Sarah Michelle Gellar as Kathryn Merteuil
* Ryan Phillippe as Sebastian Valmont
* Reese Witherspoon as Annette Hargrove
* Selma Blair as Cecille Caldwell
* Louise Fletcher as Helen Rosemond
* Joshua Jackson as Blaine Tuttle
* Eric Mabius as Greg McConnell
* Sean Patrick Thomas as Ronald Clifford
* Swoosie Kurtz as Dr. Regina Greenbaum
* Christine Baranski as Bunny Caldwell
* Alaina Reed Hall as Nurse
* Deborah Offner as Mrs. Michalak
* Tara Reid as Marcie Greenbaum
* Hiep Thi Le as Mai-Lee
* Herta Ware as Mrs. Sugarman
* Drew Snyder as Headmaster Hargrove

## Production

Principal photography for "Cruel Intentions" began on June 9, 1998 and ended on July 15, 1998.

Filming took place in Los Angeles, California; New York City; Thousand Oaks, California; Long Island, New York; Manhattan, New York; and Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The film was originally titled "Cruel Inventions," but test audiences thought that made it sound like a science fiction film, so the name changed before it was released. Writer\director Roger Kumble initially wrote the script in twelve days.

Columbia Pictures wanted Katie Holmes to play the role of Annette Hargrove, but Roger Kumble didn't think she had enough strength of character for the role. Ryan Phillippe was already signed on as Sebastian when Kumble asked about his girlfriend, Reese Witherspoon.

In 2014, Kumble revealed: *"So, basically, we took Reese out to dinner to get her drunk, and we ended up getting drunk. And I literally got down on my knees and begged her: 'Please, it'll be fifteen days, you'll be great.'" Witherspoon agreed to star in the film.*

For legal reasons, writer and director Roger Kumble had to ask all of the actresses auditioning for the role of Cecile how old they were due to a sex scene between the character and Sebastian in the movie.

According to Kumble in an article in Cosmopolitan magazine: *" So we were bringing in all of these people and they were all good, but I remember Selma (Blair) came in and I said, 'How old are you?' And she goes (in Cecile's bratty voice) 'How old are you?' And she was so obnoxious, and I couldn't get it out of my head."*

According to costume designer Denise Wingate, Reese Witherspoon was deliberately clothed in light colors in order to contrast with the dark colors of Ryan Phillippe.

Ryan Phillippe recalled that after filming a fight scene with Reese Witherspoon where the two of them viciously insult each other, he felt so emotionally drained that he went outside and threw up.

Despite previous reports, Reese Witherspoon was not pregnant with her daughter, Ava during the filming of "Cruel Intentions", but she was pregnant during the press tours for the film.

During their kissing scene, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair were not meant to produce the spittle that is shown in the scene, but after someone on-set noticed, they had to do the scene again. Cinematographer Theo van de Sande proclaimed it was "beautiful."

Producer Neal H. Moritz contractually agreed to the film being rated R and nothing less which Columbia Pictures executives agreed with.

## Box Office

"Cruel Intentions" grossed $13,020,565 during its opening weekend, ranking at #2 at the box office behind "Analyze This."

Overall, it grossed $76,347,426 on an estimated budget of $10,500,000.

## Critical Reception

"Cruel Intentions" received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 55% based on 115 reviews with an average score of 5.3\10.

The site's consensus reads: *"This darkly comic drama and its attractive young cast are easy on the eyes, but uneven performances and an uninspired script conspire to foil Cruel Intentions."*

Metacritic gave the film an average score of 56% based on reviews from 24 critics.

Charles Taylor of Salon.com described it as *"the dirtiest-minded American movie in recent memory - and an honestly corrupt entertaining picture is never anything to sneeze at."*

Stephen Holden of The New York Times stated: *"You have the queasy sense that the whole thing is just an elaborate stunt and, in this case, an exploitative one."*

Roger Ebert of the The Chicago Sun-Times praised "Cruel Intentions", giving it a rating of three out of four stars in his review, stating that it was *"smart and merciless in the tradition of the original story."*

Desson Thomson of the Washington Post called "Cruel Intentions" a *"witty, raunchy comedy, which proves that a well-written piece of business – oozing with sex, wit and nasty intrigue – works for any generation."*

Writing for the San Francisco Examiner, Wesley Morris said: *"It's fun, but the blatant, obvious kind that mistakes allusive cool for mature filmmaking and subtle ideasmanship."*