Cruel Intentions

Release Date: March 5th, 1999

Rating in America: R (Strong sexual dialogue, sexual situations involving teens, language, drug use)

Distributor: Columbia/Sony

Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, Christine Baranski, Joshua Jackson, Swoosie Kurtz, Tara Reid, Sean Patrick Thomas, Selma Blair, Phil Hawn, Jim Jenkins

Director: Roger Kumble

Screenwriter: Roger Kumble

Soundtrack: Featuring music by The Verve, Marcy's Playground, and Aimee Mann. The song heard in the trailer is "How Soon is Now?" by Love Spit Love, which is a cover of the original song of the Smiths. This is the second time it's been used for a film (the first was for The Craft).

Based on: The movie is a 20th century modernisation of Dangerous Liasons (which was itself based on the French novel by Choderlos de Laclos), which has also been remade as Valotte, both of which were excellent movies.

Premise: A modern take on Dangerous Liasons, the movie is set in an exclusive private school. It revolves around the odd games characters, played by Gellar and Phillippe, play upon a younger girl's (Witherspoon) heart. Gellar and Phillippe play a pair of duelling sexual competitors who both pride themselves on sleeping with many of their fellow students, and controlling their social lives all the while, in a sort of romantic Machiavellian scheme. The movie revolves around a twisted gamble that Phillippe can win the heart of the virginal daughter of the new headmaster.