It's Cool To Be `Cruel' by Homer Yen (c) 1999
Have you ever been so rich that the hardest thing in life was to find new ways of entertaining yourself? Forget about boring plays or humdrum sports spectacles. These venues are just the imagination of someone else's world. When you're incredibly rich and spoiled, you can bring others into your world. And in the world of Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her stepbrother, Sebastian (Ryan Phillipe), theirs is a cruel game featuring a swirling atmosphere of deception, tease, and sex.
Schoolmates and acquaintances become their pawns, unsuspecting guys and girls become casual targets of their sexual conquests and manipulative whims, and those that find their way into their game of one-upmanship will find it to be a ruinous experience. For Kathryn, she has set her sights on the sweet, incoming freshman, Cecile (Selma Blair). Her goal is to destroy her reputation. It's not that Cecile did anything wrong. But Kathryn's boyfriend recently ended the relationship to be with her. To usurp her in popularity is unforgivable. To exact revenge on him, she will befriend her while secretly plotting her downfall. Make her into damaged goods just to hurt him. And how will she strip her of her good name? To start, she gives her a personal lesson on how to French kiss and from there her journey towards adulthood grows more lascivious. To further deflower her innocence, she introduces him to the conniving Sebastian. Sebastian is quite the charmer and as a sexual conquest, she would be far too easy. He currently has his sights on Annette (Reese Witherspoon), daughter of the headmaster at his expensive private school and who was featured in a magazine article stating why she wanted to remain a virgin until she got married. `A paradigm of chastity and virtue, she'll be my greatest triumph yet,' he boasts to his stepsister. Of course in this kind of film, you can't brag like that without backing it up with a wager. The bet is made and if Sebastian fails, she wins his classic roadster. But what if he wins? `Then,' says Kathryn while caressing herself, `you can have what you've always wanted since our parents got married.'
By now, you probably have a good idea of what this film embodies. It's a film that is filled with twisted sexual innuendo and endless seduction. There's no doubt that this is a film for adults (with adult-oriented language that is shocking yet forthright) even though the stars are twenty-something. But there's actually an entertaining film in here that might surprise you. The thing that I found satisfying was how well it utilized its 100 minutes of film time. It's a tautly written and well-paced film. We know that these two are cruel and we know that someone's going to get hurt really bad. The story never detours or strays as it makes its way to its ending. The actors do well as people brimming with fake smiles, ulterior motives and insincerity. But it's not the acting that merits the recommendation, although they Gellar and Phillipe carry themselves confidently. There's an undeniable sense style and wit that makes this film wickedly fun and Machiavellian intentions that are delectably cruel.
Grade: B
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