Cruel Intentions 2 is something of a prequel to the original, with Robin Dunne as Sebastian Valmont moving in with his father, his father's new wife Mimi Rogers, and her daughter Amy Adams, as Kathryn Merteuil. As he tries to adjust to his new life in New York, he falls for the headmaster's daughter Danielle (Sarah Thompson). At the same time, we learn that Kathryn is the head of a secret organization of most elite among the elite students, and her task is to get newly arrived freshman Cherie (NH's own Keri Lynn Pratt) laid. As all this is happening, a rivalry is brewing between the new step-siblings. Adams is trying to maintain her hegemony, but Dunne is ready to mix it up with her and carve out his turf while pursuing love interest Danielle. Which of the two will prevail?
This was originally intended to be a TV series on Fox based on the first movie, but word on the street is Rupert Murdoch got wind of it--and saw the scene where Pratt, a 22-year-old at the time playing a 14-year-old, giving herself an orgasm by grinding on top of a horse's saddle in Central Park--and pulled the plug. At that point three episodes had been filmed, so they decided to cobble those together and add some new, racier footage--including nudity--and market it as a DTV sequel. If there's anything wrong with the film, it's that, that it feels cobbled together and reworked--like if it's a prequel, why does it look like it took place after the first film? Once you get passed that though, this is everything you'd want from a movie like this, from the trashy fun, like when Dunne and Adams are hooking up and Adams says "The Bradys never had it so good;" to the Robin Dunne factor; to the plot with all its twists and turns; to the mix of names we barely know to names like Mimi Rogers, who would've anchored a show like this; and names we know now like Amy Adams who would've just been getting her start. I don't know if I'd watch this and the first one together, but if you were doing a night of these DTV sequels, this would be a fun addition.
The Robin Dunne element maybe works most in the film's favor, and can't be understated. We're going to see him again this month when we look at Skulls II, and originally we were going to do American Psycho 2 in that spot, which also has Dunne. The first thing I saw him in was The Big Hit, where he plays a bungling white rapper sort who's trying to break into the assassin industry, and meets a bad end at the hands of Lou Diamond Phillips for his troubles. We've also seen him on the site before, when he was in the Roddy Piper flick Jungleground, which makes sense considering Dunne is also Canadian. And it's that mix of good looks, off-beat charisma, and Canadian-ness that makes him perfect for these movies, and now as the market has transitioned and he's gotten older, perfect for the Hallmark Christmas movies he's been doing--I count eight Christmas movies and one New Year's movie on his IMDb bio. It's quite a career when you think about it, and other than maybe Brandon Routh, there isn't anyone I'd rather have leading my Christmas movie now, or my 2000s DTV sequel then.
One year removed from her film debut in Drop Dead Gorgeous, Adams probably thought she'd made it when she was cast on this network TV show, only to see it dumped by Fox and cobbled together into a DTV sequel with nudity added in. What would the big break be then? Catch Me If You Can? Talladega Nights? I think the one that puts her on the level she's on now was The Fighter, which then leads to blockbusters like Man of Steel. What's fun about our site though is we can go back to films like this and see roles from when big stars were just starting out. Even with her character being cobbled together and edited the way it was, you can still see the star that was there, but it's interesting to think about what would've happened had the show been allowed to continue. She and Dunne could've created something really interesting, and maybe Dunne would've gone on to have more of a Joshua Jackson-esque career than the one he has now; but would Adams have been able to carve out the superstar career she has? Or would she have been known for more TV stuff? Was the show being canceled before it even started the best thing that could've happened to her, while it hurt the careers of almost everyone else involved? Maybe. She does have a couple more DTV films, so we may see her again on here, but if we don't, this film is an interesting one in her filmography.
I tried to bring myself back to the early 2000s as I was watching this. I haven't seen the original since it came out, but at that time we had this new Brat Pack forming from a group of twentysomethings who were slightly older than me or my age, all born from the mid-to-late-70s and playing high school students. I think the movement started with WB--now the CW--shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dawson's Creek, and Felicity. Then we had movies like Scream and Wild Things that featured more of an older set of young stars, like Neve Campbell and Denise Richards, but were emulated with this younger set in films like I Know What You Did Last Summer and Cruel Intentions. It's interesting, because I think the ones that emerged out of that group to become the biggest stars were the ones that were younger, like Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling; or the ones that were more adjacent, like Amy Adams. Reese Witherspoon probably had the most success into the 2010s, followed by Paul Walker with the Fast and Furious movies, but that's about it for that top level of stardom. Either way, for a time between the late 90s and early 2000s, they ruled, and they were our Brat Pack. And now they've all fallen into comfortable roles on not-so-prestige TV shows and Christmas movies. Maybe 20 years later, that's actually not a bad deal.
Finally, the soundtrack has some Smithereens songs, which brings me back to the early 90s, but it also had a couple songs by Thin Lizard Dawn. You'd be forgiven for not knowing who they are. I think their biggest hit was 1996's "Sucks," which at the time I think was called "Sucks Like Oasis," and was probably only a hit because it called out one of the biggest bands of the time. 1996 was also the year I saw Oasis in concert at the Worcester Centrum, now the DCU Center--I still have the T-shirt I bought there. My buddy had the album that had "Sucks" on it when I was in college, apologizing because he knew I was a big Oasis fan. Here's the thing though, I listened to the song for the first time in like 25 years, and realized it's not very good. "Weed," which was used in this film, is a bit better, but you can see why Oasis was an all-time band, and no one remembers Thin Lizard Dawn.
Kinda though, right? Because this movie is currently on Tubi, so you can stream this free and hear all the Thin Lizard Dawn you want while you get your fill of Robin Dunne, pre-stardom Amy Adams, and fun DTV sequel/prequel guilty pleasure. So while Oasis is planning a massive reunion concert, Thin Lizard Dawn lives on as well.
For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0196267
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