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Dangerous Liaisons Customer Reviews (4 - 6 of 28 Reviews)

Wonderful performance of Glenn Close

When I saw this movie on TV, the opening scene was actually the last scene of the DVD version. Who was the lady (Glenn Close) in the VIP box and what has she done to provoke such a unified response from the audience of the theatre? What followed was the retelling of her story and her infamous endeavours.

Marquise (Glenn CLose) was a stunning beauty, wicked and calculating, strong-willed and manipulating. What she called as a power of struggle between the sexes boiled down to a war for her to win all at all costs. She would rather declare victory over other women who might threaten her (or rather her vanity). People around her, played by John Malkovich,Michelle Pfeiffer, Swoozie Kurtz, Uma Thurman, Keenu Reeves, were all unknowingly her puppets. The one closest to knowing the truth (John Malkovich) was also her vehicle to carry out her vicious schemes and succumbed to her plot.

This was a tragic story because it was a lose-lose-lose situation; everyone (including Marquise) was a victum in the end. True love was not rewarded. Neither vanity and happiness went to any of them. The movie offers fine performance of the star-studded cast and detailed costumes and sets. One of a kind.

Good But....
Beautifully photographed and stylish tale set just prior to the French Revolution. John Malkovich (Vicomte de Valmont) and Glenn Close (Marquise de Merteuil) play jaded aristocrats scheming to outwit romantic rivals - as well as one another.

Uma Thurman, Keanu Reeves and a curiously fog eyed Michelle Pfeiffer show up in supporting roles.

Close's marquise is a brilliant but warped and conniving woman who seeks vengeance against one of her former lovers by enlisting Valmont to seduce his intended bride. Playing on Valmont's rakish vanity, and desire to regain favour as her lover, she maneuvers Valmont into agreeing to her plan.

Malkovich's Vicomte de Valmont is a scheming seducer with his own agenda, but who finds himself increasingly dominated by the marquise. He achieves her plan only to learn, in the end, that she will not honor her end of the bargain.

My problem with the film, despite its pluses, is that Malkovich is very miscast in this role. Far from being a legendary seducer of women, his Valmont comes across, not as a fun, charming romancer, but as a sarcastic, scheming misogynist. Not someone a lovesick sailor would want a roll with, let alone beautiful and aristocratic women. This is quite unexpected as Malkovich usually does well in his movies.

Furthermore, his desire to regain the vicious de Marteuil for a lover is quite inexplicable. Close is a good actress, and does a good turn here too, but she's hardly a beauty; and her vindictive, manhating marquise is about as desireable as a roach bite. Perhaps the vicomte was running short of funds and needed her for her money, but it was left unexplained by the movie.

Not a bad movie overall. But it would have been much better still had Valmont been played with charm and humor.


Dangerous Liaisons '88
This is a great story with fairly interesting characters which was started a couple of modern re-treads such as Dogfight, and later, Cruel Intentions. And it's truer to the original book, with acting that is not so strong.

Even for a psychopath, John Malkovich does not make a convincing con artist. However, Glenn Close nicely portrays the Marquise De Merteuil and she has a dignity that isn't in the other adaptations. You do get a sense of her desperation in this class system, and her shame at being exposed. I found the character of Cecille more satisfying by being less stupid but it drew out the boring part of the film. It's flawed to portray their victim's innocence as foolishness, that's their distorted perception, not the reality.

Ultimately, I'm suprised to prefer Cruel Intentions, it has a kind of emotional core that this doesn't. Both screw up Sebastian's character arc by making it appear to occur overnight.

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