mjneu59 Review of Dangerous Liaisons

Dangerous Liaisons (1988)

a modern soap opera in fancy period dress

[5/10 · 12 November 2010]

This playfully cynical costume drama exposes the difference between the polite manners and bloodthirsty morals of mid 18th century nobility, as the Maquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont (Glen Close and John Malkovich, respectively) exercise their wiles in competitive games of sex and corruption. The film highlights some of Stephen Frears' most self-assured direction to date, but screenwriter Christopher Hampton's adaptation of his own successful stage play lacks teeth: the supposedly razor-sharp dialogue all too often sounds wooden and anachronistic (try to recall a single line afterward), and the dramatic payoff is unaccountably soft. The scenario demands to be read as a microcosm of the eternal battle between the sexes, with women using sex to gain power and men using power to get sex, but the message is mixed: in the end Malkovich is redeemed by true love, while Close is ruined by it. Deep down it's simply a modern soap opera in fancy period dress, enjoyable but wildly overpraised.