Mr. Warden, may I just say...
THIS MOVIE ROCKS. The plot is delicious; the cast is wonderful. Sarah Michelle Gellar is a bit of a bitch throwback; her formal language and insincere tone are fabulous. Selma Blair is completely hilarious. For Gossip Girl fans, Ryan Phillippe is Chuck Bass, pre- and post-Blair. Not to mention we have Joshua Jackson and Eric Mabius. ("The man can barely write out a grocery list, let alone a letter. What was I thinking?"). And Sean Patrick Thomas! ("I got you off the streets!"/"I live at 59th and Park." Zing!)
There were only three parts that I really didn't care for. First of all, Annette gives up her virginity pretty quickly; what about Trevor, the backpacking boyfriend? Do we ever find out about him? And for a girl who is pretty adamant about saving it for love and professing that teenagers can't feel love, she hands it to a boy she's barely even kissed without too much resistance. Really? You don't even want to date him once or twice before sleeping with him?
And then, whatever happened to Court? Cecile's life is hardly ruined; she may have a venereal disease, but she's not ruined. And we don't see Court or others dissing her. In fact, we never see him and Cecile together, and one assumes that once Cecile and Ronald are together, Cecile isn't even seeing Court socially. Of all the characters Kathryn wants to manipulate and the only one she out-and-out wants to destroy, Court is the only one who emerges unscathed.
Finally, what was with the ending? Admittedly, the heroic death of Sebastian is a little much for me (although it's in Dangerous Liaisons, so I guess they had to have it), but despite that, who walks out of a funeral en masse, even if there are tawdy rags of gossip outside?
The one thing that I would have wanted to be explored more is Sebastian's love for Kathryn. There's no doubt that she's the one he's talking about when he breaks up with Annette; it is her approval that he seeks for the entire movie and he even writes "My Love" by the photo of her in his journal. While her "I don't f*** losers" was bitchery personified, I think they should have had sex. He won the bet and she really had no grounds for withholding his prize. Also, is there a greater realization that he loves Annette than to have his one dream of having sex with Kathryn be completely underwhelming or even painful?
One last point: Did anyone else kinda adore Kathryn's allusion dropping as much as I did? "I'm the Marcia F***ing Brady of the Upper East Side." "Silly rabbit." And my all time favorite:
Kathryn: "Be her Captain Picard, Valmont...boldly go where no man has gone before."Priceless.
2 comments:
You watched this without me?! How could you?! But it's great, right?!
But, okay, let's see if I can Mulder your Scully, as you like to say:
1) Annette does give in pretty easily, especially when you compare it to Michelle Pfeiffer's exquisite agony in Dangerous Liaisons . Though, remember, Greg does give her his blessing.
2) In the novel, "Trevor" and "Court" are off-page characters and are rarely even spoken about, so their absence in the movie could be chalked up to faithful adaptation. While I never cared much about Trevor (sidebar: "Trevor's a fag."), it is an interesting point that you bring up about Court, though technically Kathryn did achieve her goal of keeping Cecile away from Court or delivering her as "damaged goods."
3) If by "the ending" you mean Sebastian's death, the, yes, you are correct on both accounts: it occurs in the novel and is very melodramatic (here, in the novel and in every other adaptation that I've seen). However, if by "the ending" you mean the "Bittersweet Symphony" sequence, I must disagree - and I don't think it is Sebastian's funeral as much as a school assembly. And Gellar's single tear after reading the journal? *Pleasure shudder* I thought it was an excellent ending.
Since I have the film memorized, I would have to say that the entire "Silly rabbit" scene, from the moment Kathryn walks into the (BLUE) room to the moment Sebastian leaves, is my favorite scene. Though so many moments are just absolutely fantastic:
"Unfortunately, our Don Juan is moving at the speed of a Special Olympic hurdler."
"F*ck her yet?"
"I'm working on it."
"Loser."
"Blow me."
"Call me later?"
"Kay."
And let us not forget:
"Mai li, be careful! We've had this discussion!"
We are watching it again, to be sure. My mom got it out from the library all, "Have you seen this?" and I responded, "It's Ryan's FAVORITE! I must watch it right now!"
I love the ending, how it's played, but I still can't get behind that many kids leaving even a school assembly. It's really tacky. And in real life, faculty members would keep them in their seats. But it's a movie and Kathryn cries and her coke stash is revealed, so I guess artistry makes up for unlikely student rebellion.
I forgot the Don Juan line! That was super-wonderful.
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