Cruel Intentions 1999

Susan Stark, Detroit News: The film is pitched too high and too rich to make a solid connection with most young viewers. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: The initial feel of Cruel Intentions is so audacious that the comedown is truly a letdown. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: You have the queasy sense that the whole thing is just an elaborate stunt, and in this case an exploitative one. Read more

Jeff Millar, Houston Chronicle: You sometimes have to giggle at this movie the way you do when you catch 4-year-olds playing dress-up in front of Mom's closet. Read more

Paul Clinton (CNN.com), CNN.com: The teen-age target audience will probably gobble Cruel Intentions right up, but for me this film boarders on creepy. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Foxy, snotty, enjoyably trashy! Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: This is the filmic answer to a pack of Spice Girl cards. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: Neither the characters nor the events are exactly the same as those of the novel, but some of the same spirit comes across. Read more

B.J. Sigesmund, Newsweek: You won't be able to resist the film's ribaldry and cynicism. Kids these days! Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The likes of Glenn Close and John Malkovich have given way to unconvincing actors who can't grasp the concept that roles of this complexity require more than good looks. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Smart and merciless! Read more

Charles Taylor, Salon.com: Cruel Intentions is the dirtiest-minded American movie in recent memory -- and an honestly corrupt entertaining picture is never anything to sneeze at. Read more

Bob Graham, San Francisco Chronicle: It is maliciously entertaining, up to a point. Read more

Time Out: Lascivious blackmailers and inveterate immoralists, these characters behave despicably, but the movie affects a tone of urbane detachment which puts sex in its proper perspective. Read more

Emanuel Levy, Variety: Nasty, profane and wickedly entertaining! Read more

Dennis Lim, Village Voice: Though writer-director Roger Kumble doesn't fully exploit this conceit, Cruel Intentions is still briskly enjoyable, what people might call a 'guilty pleasure' -- only it's the sort of film that would mock anyone who felt guilt in pleasure. Read more

Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: What's both depressing and impressive about Cruel Intentions is the profound misanthropy of its meaning. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: Witty, raunchy! Read more