Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
56
(24 sources)
56
(24 sources)
-
90
Washington Post
A witty, raunchy comedy, which proves that a well-written piece of business – oozing with sex, wit and nasty intrigue – works for any generation. Read Full Review » -
80
Film.com
Don't be fooled by the WB appeal; if you've ever been in high school, Cruel Intentions has the wiles to seduce. Read Full Review » -
80
Salon.com
The dirtiest-minded American movie in recent memory -- and an honestly corrupt entertaining picture is never anything to sneeze at. Read Full Review » -
80
-
80
Washington Post
The original was about social manipulation as blood sport. Amazing how easily it transports, themes intact, to our blighted decade, and to our children. Read Full Review » -
75
Chicago Sun-Times
It crash-lands with an ending of soppy moralizing, but until the end, it's smart and merciless in the tradition of the original story. Read Full Review » -
70
Film.com
The darkly comic tone is often just right, and the casting occasionally pays off. Read Full Review » -
70
-
70
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 Full Review » -
70
New Times (L.A.)
As the story plows toward its finale, the cultural dislocation problems become worse, until by the end they almost defeat the whole film. Read Full Review » -
70
Village Voice
A "guilty pleasure" -- only it's the sort of film that would mock anyone who felt guilt in pleasure. Read Full Review » -
67
Entertainment Weekly
Never shocks or even offends by ascribing fully adult cruelties and erotic activities to obnoxious kids; such harshness wouldn't flatter a cast this moussed and magazine-layout-ready. Read Full Review » -
60
TV Guide
It's tremendous fun, thanks largely to a smarter-than-average script and some fierce casting. Read Full Review » -
50
-
50
The 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 Full Review » -
50
Chicago Tribune
As Cruel Intentions progresses, you may come to realize that if a bomb suddenly blew up everyone on screen, you wouldn't particularly miss anyone. Read Full Review » -
50
LA Weekly
In truth, the only reason this film was made was to allow viewers to ogle pretty young things behaving badly. Read Full Review » -
50
San Francisco Examiner
It's fun, but the blatant, obvious kind that mistakes allusive cool for mature filmmaking and subtle ideasmanship. Read Full Review » -
40
Film Threat
In the end, the whole shebang comes off like a bunch of snotty, rich white kids screwing each other and screwing each other over. Read Full Review » -
40
The New Yorker
It's not boring (given the subject, how could it be?), but almost nothing in it works. Read Full Review » -
38
ReelViews
No amount of youthful charisma can alter the fact that, in the light of "Dangerous Liaisons", Cruel Intentions is a feeble and dissatisfying shadow. Read Full Review » -
30
Austin Chronicle
It works only sporadically, and more as a comic outing than as a vicious battle of sexual predation. Read Full Review » -
20
Film.com
Mr Kumble: Keep your hands off the classics! You don't deserve to read them, let alone paraphrase them. Read Full Review » -
20
Rolling Stone
It's not the trite talk that sends Cruel Intentions into a tailspin, it's the lightweight casting. Read Full Review »
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