| Cruel Intentions 2 |
Feeling that there was more life in the story of Cruel Intentions, a modern-day teen version of Choderlos de Laclos' epistolary fiction Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Fox Television and Columbia TriStar commissioned writer-director Roger Kumble to turn the film into a weekly hour-long drama to be called "Manchester Prep". When the two production companies came to an impasse over the direction of the show, however, the series was scrapped, despite three episodes having been completed. In a bid to rescue what could be salvaged, enterprising executives allowed Kumble to redub some dialogue (adding curse words) and to shoot some extra footage (including a shower scene involving female "kissing cousins"). The finished product was repackaged as the direct-to-video release Cruel Intentions 2. The series obviously was going to expand on the ideas in the original, but this video is meant to serve as prequel to the events in the 1999 feature film. Cruel Intentions had several things going for it: surprising fidelity to the original source material and strong central performances from Daytime Emmy winner Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and, most particularly, Reese Witherspoon as the virginal daughter of the school's headmaster. While critics were generally dismissive of Cruel Intentions, it found an audience on video and cable. Of course none of the principals are on board for the prequel, so this cast has large shoes to fill and in virtually every case, the newcomers pale in comparison with the originals. Canadian actor Robin Dunne is cast as Sebastian Valmont, here a poor boy whose father has married well. A born manipulator, Sebastian finds himself moving to Manhattan to live with his philandering father (David McIlwraith) and his wealthy stepmother (Mimi Rogers) while his mother spends time at a rehab clinic. Added into the mix is his new stepsister, the cunning and vixenish Kathryn Merteuil (Amy Adams). Just as much an operator as Sebastian, Kathryn plots against her new stepbrother. Much of the drama is given over to various subplots. Student body president Kathryn seeks revenge against a ditsy freshman (former teen beauty queen Keri Lynn Pratt) while Sebastian pursues a romance with the headmaster's daughter Danielle (Sarah Thompson, who has a recurring role on the Fox series "Boston Public"). Since the material was originally intended for the small screen, it plays well in the video format, but if judged by the same standards as a feature film, Cruel Intentions 2 doesn't quite make the grade. Dunne, while less attractive than Phillippe, tries to invest Sebastian with a sense of humanity. On the other hand, Adams lacks the requisite skills to make Kathryn believable. (Gellar was able to project the appropriately haughty qualities and walked the perfect line, never moving the character into camp territory.) Pratt has fun with her role as the nouveau riche freshman who lacks polish and class. Thompson acquits herself as the morally upright Danielle. Kumble tried to be both faithful to the original source material but in a manner that would open up possibilities for a weekly series, but this version is pedestrian in comparison with the 1999 film. Since Cruel Intentions 2 is a hybrid, though, Kumble and company cannot fully be held accountable. Undoubtedly if he intended to produce a straightforward two-hour original prequel, the writer-director would have made certain that the script was less meandering, undoubtedly stripping out several subplots that seemingly go nowhere (like the troubles in the marriage between Sebastian's father and Kathryn's mother). Instead, the cast and crew is left holding a mixed bag that I would suspect most would like to strike from their resumes. Rating: C- MPAA Rating: R (brief nudity, language, sexual situations) |
| © 2008 by C. E. Murphy. All Rights Reserved. |