Directed by Roger Kumble in his first directorial debut of a feature film and produced by Neal H. Moritz (I Know What You Did Last Summer, Urban Legend and Rat Pack), Cruel Intentions is a teen flick which will appeal not only to the teen audience but the mature one as well. It also has a great cast of young up and coming actors with Ryan Phillippe (54, Little Boy Blue), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, I Know What You Did Last Summer), Reese Witherspoon (Freeway , Pleasantville), Selma Blair (Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane) and Sean Patrick Thomas (Can't Hardly Wait).

The plot is basically about two wealthy, cynical, manipulative, ruthless teenage stepsiblings Kathryn Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Sebastian Valmont (Ryan Phillippe) who agree upon a diabolical wager of sexual conquest without consequences. It all starts during summer break when Kathryn got dumped by her boyfriend for the dumb, innocent and klutzy Cecile Caldwell (Selma Blair). Kathryn decides to gain revenge by having Sebastian seduce Cecile and turning her into a slut, thus humiliating her ex-boyfriend. At the same time, Kathryn snitches on Cecile when she discovers that Cecile and her black music teacher (Sean Patrick Thomas) are falling in love. (Talk about being vindictive!)

However, Sebastian has targeted the new headmaster's beautiful, virginal daughter Annette Hargrove (Reese Witherspoon) for conquest after reading her article in a teen magazine about how she wants to remain chaste until marriage. Thus, the plot thickens as Kathryn bets with Sebastian that if he fails to seduce Annette, she wins his prized 1956 Jaguar. If Sebastian succeeds, he gets to spend a night of unbridled lust and passion with Kathryn.

Here, Ryan Phillippe is simply brilliant in his portrayal of the cold, engaging and seductive Sebastian Valmont. Perhaps the role was tailor made for him with his golden good looks. That however, does not detract from the fact that as an actor, Ryan Phillippe has starred in several equally brilliant performances in movies such as 54 and Little Boy Blue. If he plays his cards right, he could be the next Hollywood heartthrob after Tom Cruise.

We have all seen Sarah Michelle Gellar in the television series Buffy The Vampire Slayer and the recent I Know What You Did Last Summer. With Cruel Intentions, Gellar has shown that she can be very versatile in her roles. She gives a very convincing portrayal of a vindictive, sophisticated, manipulative and sexually superpowerful Kathryn Merteuil. There's a scene where she uses her body in a most seductive and erotic way to persuade Sebastian to do what she wants. (Oooooh, man!) Gellar is definitely a very consummate actress.

Reese Witherspoon is perhaps not as well known as Gellar and Phillippe, but this beautiful 23-year-old actress carries her role as the virginal, religious and goody-two-shoes Annette Hargrove well. She and Phillippe definitely has an on-screen chemistry that shows up well in their scenes together, which is not surprising, considering that they are both romantically involved in real life.

The real surprise here has got to be Selma Blair, as she steals the scene from her more famous co-stars with her great (or dumb!) acting. She is so deliciously funny, clueless, innocent and gullible as Cecile Caldwell that you can't help but laugh at her. An actress who is well worth watching.