Dangerous Liaisons (1988)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Marquise de Merteuil	Glenn Close
Vicomte de Valmont	John Malkovich
Madame de Tourvel	Michelle Pfeiffer
Cecile de Volanges	Uma Thurman
Madame de Volanges	Swoosie Kurtz
Chevalier Danceny	Keanu Reeves	½
Madame de Rosemonde	Mildred Natwick

Review

Glenn Close and John Malkovich's diabolic games of seduction and secret affairs are balancing exquisitely on the line between playfulness and disaster in this timeless but faithful adaptation of Choderlos de Laclos' classic novel Les Liaisons dangereuses. As directed by Stephen Frears and written by Christopher Hampton (partly based on his own play), the film has got just enough footing in both the novel's contemporary period and in our own time to make this a film of both artistic merit and great entertainment value. It's liberating to see the free-spirited boldness with which Frears, Hampton and the performers go about bringing this tale of dubious morals to the screen. The story is told with the seductiveness of Valmont and the slyness of Merteuil, and the result is almost unpleasantly alluring. Superb performances crown this winner of three Academy Awards.