--- title: "Dangerous Liaisons: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/dangerous-liaisons/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/dangerous-liaisons" critics_score: 82 critics_reviews: 8 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Dangerous Liaisons (1988): what the critics said Critics' score 82 from 8 reviews: 8 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. Every review is positive, and the praise gathers around the same three actors. Glenn Close and John Malkovich are named by nearly every critic as the reason the film works, with Michelle Pfeiffer’s virtuous target close behind. Most critics also credit Stephen Frears for keeping a drawing-room play moving and for staying indoors with the intrigue rather than opening it out, and several single out the costumes, photography and production design. The tone is agreed on too: a witty comedy of manners with something cruel underneath, and an ending more than one critic finds shocking. The spread is narrow, from 75 to 90, and the reservations are small. RogerEbert.com finds it short on gusto, Eye for Film thinks the direction tentative and the stage origins visible, and the Los Angeles Times is less sold on the leads than everyone else. The warmest notice is the most recent, from Collider in 2022, which calls it the best adaptation of the novel. ## Empire — Lloyd Bradley Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The film is a devilishly seductive comedy with a heart of black pulsing beneath the blushing surface. The magnificently subtle playing of the lead roles by Close, Malkovich and Pfeiffer involves the viewer so completely that the business of sexual and social point-scoring becomes not only possible but probable. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/dangerous-liasons-review/) ## The New Yorker — Pauline Kael Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 2 January 1989. The film succeeds in conveying the carnal roots of the characters' power games and ends with forceful, shocking impact. Kael highlights the strong casting, especially Glenn Close and John Malkovich, and Stephen Frears' brisk, unsentimental direction that makes it one of the least static costume films. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1989/01/09/the-comedy-of-evil) ## The New York Times — Vincent Canby Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 21 December 1988. The critic finds the film a handsome, intelligent adaptation that succeeds as witty, entertaining drawing-room comedy laced with decadence. He praises its restraint in not opening up the play and its focus on stylized indoor intrigue among the aristocracy. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/21/movies/review-film-passion-in-the-ancien-regime-dangerous-liaisons-on-screen.html) ## Time Out — SGr Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 18 January 2012. The film is a sombre, manipulative affair that succeeds by returning to the source novel for its script and casting strong American leads. It singles out Michelle Pfeiffer's splendid performance as the virtuous woman targeted in the plot. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/dangerous-liaisons) ## Los Angeles Times — Sheila Benson Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 21 December 1988. The critic calls the film a glittering, cinematic version of the play that retains the novel's shocking power through deliberate seductions and betrayals. She singles out the ravishing photography, costumes, production design and flowing flashbacks for particular praise while noting mixed results from the lead performances. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-12-21-ca-394-story.html) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 13 January 1989. The film is an absorbing and seductive tragicomedy of manners about two cynical aristocrats who destroy others' loves while denying their own. Ebert praises the performances of Glenn Close, John Malkovich, and Michelle Pfeiffer but notes it lacks some gusto and punch. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/dangerous-liaisons-1989) ## Collider — Rhianna Malas Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 17 August 2022. The critic calls the 1988 film the best adaptation of the novel, praising its opulent visuals and period detail along with strong performances, particularly Glenn Close in one of her best roles. They highlight the complex, intimate relationship between the central characters Merteuil and Valmont as the story's most compelling element. [Read the review](https://collider.com/dangerous-liaisons-1988-best-adaptation/) ## Eye for Film — James Benefield Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 10 August 2009. The critic praises the film as a compelling depiction of decadence and ennui in 18th-century France, highlighting the masterful performances by Glenn Close and John Malkovich as the central strength while noting some tentative direction and its stage origins. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/dangerous-liaisons-film-review-by-james-benefield) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/dangerous-liaisons.md