!!!Spoilers aplenty!!!

Since Frears' "Dangerous Liaisons" is set in the time of de Laclos' Text, unlike e.g. "Cruel Intentions," it is important to note that the novel as a thinly disguised attack on the Ancien Regime - hence no redemption is possible, the end in death a necessity.

The narrative relying far more on dialogue than action, I think Stephen Frears made the right choice in not "speeding up" the piece by frequent cutting. The pace at which the cabal develops is leisurely going towards slow, but I think that is advantageous. This is because its very slowness allows us to appreciate the atmosphere in which Merteuil and Valmont plan the ruination of innocents: boredom, really. They have nothing better to do, so destroying others is a pastime to them.

The settings, costumes, and makeup reinforce this atmosphere - they are splendidly done, and one may well talk of oppressive opulence. The opening of the film actually puts costume and make-up to symbolic use; it is inspired: we follow Merteuil and Valmont through their morning toilette, getting dressed and made up, foreshadowing the masquerade they put on and in which they both are actors, but Merteuil is eventually revealed to be the director.

The casting I thought superb. Malkovich is in my opinion perfectly suited to play Valmont precisely because he is not conventionally attractive. The character relies on his powers of manipulation and the occasional subterfuge for his `conquests,' and Malkovich achieves an accomplished embodiment of both - impossible to say no to, with just that necessary element of ruthlessness. There have been complaints that Glenn Close is not attractive enough to be the Marquise, but I disagree. Her character is motivated by a will to control and dominate. As she says herself: `I was born to dominate your sex and to avenge my own' or words to that effect. Her sexuality similarly is not driven purely by pleasure, hence her refusal to give Valmont his reward. She sees him not conforming to the part she has `written' for him and re-establishes herself as unattainable unless he brings the ultimate sacrifice. And Glenn Close delivers this calculating woman so convincingly that it is easy for me at least to understand why Valmont would go to any length to bed her. Just as he wants Tourvel to betray everything she ever believed in, he wants the controlling Merteuil to submit to him - hence the repeated reminders of their past love. Merteuil at one point says that he was the only one she (almost? I'm not entirely sure) lost control with.

The supporting actors I also find well chosen. Reeves may seem a strange choice, but the character is a bit of a wet blanket to start with, and he gives the docile creature easily manipulated by Valmont and Merteuil quite well. But better are Pfeiffer and Thurman, who both undergo convincing changes from innocents abroad to someone well on the way to a willing pupil of the Marquise and Vicomte (in Thurman's case) and to someone genuinely suffering from the opposing demands of morals and love (Pfeiffer).

If you only watch one dialogue-driven costume drama set in the eighteenth century this year, make it this one (though if you can take more, give `The Madness of King George' a look-in, too).

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?

Stephen Frears directs a top-notch movie adaptation of Choderlos de Laclos' novel about several manipulative Rococo-era French aristocrats. Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil (Glenn Close) is a seductively evil character who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. Vicomte Sebastien de Valmont (John Malkovich) knows how to trick the peasants into thinking that he's a good guy, despite his vampiric intentions. Madame Marie de Tourvel (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Le Chevalier Raphael Danceny (Keanu Reeves) may be only products of this vile society, but they are practically helpless to do anything about it. Maybe it's a little strange to see Keanu Reeves in a movie like this, but he makes the best of his role. All in all, "Dangerous Liaisons" is a movie that you can't afford to miss. Perfect.