Valmont 1989

Dave Kehr, Chicago Tribune: Valmont is a superb piece of craftsmanship, impeccable in every detail from lighting to costuming, but as a work of art it remains tentative and blurred. Read more

Sheila Benson, Los Angeles Times: Colin Firth's Valmont is pleasant, a dreadful thing to say about one of literature's most magnetic seducers. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: Because there are no characters animating his panorama, all this serves to prove is that though Forman's movie is broader than Frears', it is also shallower. Read more

Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine: Milos Forman and Jean-Claude Carriere, while fiddling with the plot of this deliciously nasty tale, have studiously embalmed its spirit. Read more

Janet Maslin, New York Times: Bad timing is the least of this film's problems. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: The results are too pretty and well acted to be a total washout, but the fascination with evil and power that gives the novel intensity is virtually absent; what remains is mainly petty malice and mild cynicism. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The Frears version is cerebral and claustrophobic, an exercise in sexual mindplay. Forman's is more physical. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: The film is rapturously beautiful, enticing us into a lush, aristocratic world. Read more

Dominic Wells, Time Out: It's a warm, energetic, humorous film, with some excellent ensemble playing; but the cruelty and psychological complexity are lost, and the ensuing tragedy has little resonance. Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: What keeps the film interesting, if not riveting, is the generally on target casting and resulting topnotch interpretations. Read more

Rita Kempley, Washington Post: It's a naughty costume dramedy in which the erotic conquests of bored libertines are transformed into children's kissing games. Read more