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Information
- Year
- 1988
- Runtime
- 119 min.
- Director
- Stephen Frears
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
- Rating *
- 7.6
- Votes *
- 57,029
- Checks
- 9,221
- Favs
- 536
- Dislikes
- 56
- Favs/checks
- 5.8% (1:17)
- Favs/dislikes
- 10:1
Top comments
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Siskoid
Undoubtedly, my favorite type of villain is the manipulative kind (it's kind of also my favorite type of anti-hero), so Dangerous Liaisons is right up my alley. Glenn Close and John Malkovich are delicious French aristocrats playing games with people's lives, challenging one another to greater and greater deeds of seduction. It's not seduction for sex or conquest, but for cruelty's sake. Their motivations are loftier and more spiritual, which makes them more evil. So what happens when they allow themselves to be touched by a soul they're trying to corrupt? From a distance looking like a boring historical drama, Liaisons is really a darkly comic sex comedy and duel of wit. Great lines abound, and the leads are magnetic. I wish their victims were as richly written, but the epistolary novel the film is drawn from necessarily stayed with certain points of view, so the characters incarnated by Michelle Pfeiffer, Uma Thurman and Keanu Reeves feel a little under-drawn. My one regret is that the film doesn't end some 10 minutes before its actual run time. If it had, the ending would have felt triumphant and left one wanting to see a whole extra film of dark manipulation. As it is, there's a freight train of epilogue that's good, but not as thrilling. 4 years 8 months ago -
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Friends
Login to see which of your friends have seen this movie!In 8 official lists
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This movie ranks #132 in Emma Beare's 501 Must-See Movies
Emma Beare's 501 Must-Se…
132 -
This movie ranks #183 in The New York Times's Book of Movies
The New York Times's Boo…
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This movie ranks #214 in The Guardian's 1000 Films to See Before You Die
The Guardian's 1000 Film…
214 -
This movie ranks #365 in Academy Award - Best Picture Nominees
Academy Award - Best Pic…
365 -
This movie ranks #622 in Halliwell's Top 1000: The Ultimate Movie Countdown
Halliwell's Top 1000: Th…
622 -
This movie ranks #780 in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See…
780 -
This movie ranks #899 in David Thomson's Have You Seen?
David Thomson's Have You…
899 -
This movie ranks #983 in TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films: 1001-2500
TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest F…
983