55
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe Frears version is cerebral and claustrophobic, an exercise in sexual mindplay.
- 88Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversThe film is rapturously beautiful, enticing us into a lush, aristocratic world.
- 88The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyForman's treatment is another matter entirely - infinitely more subtle and, using the intrinsic bias of film, far more naturalistic. [18 Nov 1989]
- 60EmpireEmpireMaking no secret of the fact that he has "freely adapted" the novel, writer Jean-Claude Carriere and Milos "Amadeus" Forman have come up with a visually mouthwatering epic treatment: beautiful, opulent, sumptuous.
- 60VarietyVarietyMilos Forman's meticulously produced Valmont is an extremely well-acted period piece that suffers from stately pacing and lack of dramatic high points.
- 50Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumThe results are too pretty and well acted to be a total washout, but the fascination with evil and power that gives the novel intensity is virtually absent; what remains is mainly petty malice and mild cynicism.
- 50Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittLivelier, more absorbing, and generally better acted than "Dangerous Liaisons," which arrived a year ago. But it runs out of inspiration long before it runs out of plot twists, and we've seen the twists too many times before.
- 50TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineMilo Forman's Valmont is the weakest version so far, suffering from willfully wrongheaded casting, a comic-strip "free" adaptation by former Luis Bunuel collaborator Jean-Claude Carriere, and Forman's heavy-handed direction of material that requires the most sophisticated glancing touch.
- 30The New York TimesJanet MaslinThe New York TimesJanet MaslinFor every necessary touch that Valmont has reduced or dispensed with (the climactic duel scene, for instance), there is another, less vital moment that has been expanded.
- 20TimeRichard SchickelTimeRichard SchickelValmont arrives stiffened by the elegant, inert formalism of Forman's direction, and chilled by Carriere's all too sober respect for his source and by their mutual determination to apply modern psychological understanding to the behavior of the principal figures.