Two horrible, deceitful aristocrats make a game of destroying other peoples' lives and then laugh about it behind their backs. At times it's hard to watch, since it seems to be a commentary about how the rich manipulate the lives of lesser people, a concept that is still relevant today. The levels of betrayal and backstabbing are pushed to cartoonish levels, until you get the idea that someone must have really hurt these people in the past. In the end they just wind up hurting each other, in the most abject way possible. Glenn Close was never better, you can see the wheels turning behind her marvelously expressive face, and Malkovich is positively reptilian. Michelle Pfeiffer nails her role as a gentle, quiet woman caught up in the machinery of the game, and as Valmont destroys her from the inside out you really just want to reach into the screen and strangle him. There are no winners in this dumpster fire, but maybe at the end you have some satisfaction knowing that your own life is much better in comparison. Isn't that why everyone rubbernecks at a car crash?
Review of Dangerous Liaisons
