SpoilersSometimes, movies take us by surprise. We end up expecting certain things based on the trailer, premise, summary etc., and end up getting a very different movie.When I, as a teenager, first heard of "Cruel Intentions", and read the brief summary [stepbrother and stepsister involved in that wicked seduction game, trying to ruin people's lives], I expected something seriously dark, twisted and intense, like "Basic Instinct" meets "Wild Things". But in the end, the movie came off as more like a black teen comedy-drama. The plot was still twisted when you get down to it, but there were lots of cheesy, almost self-aware/satirical parts and dark humor throughout the movie. [When Sebastian's therapist writes down "Bill you for the book", after giving a copy of her book to Sebastian and telling him it's for free; how Sebastian's therapist learns he had seduced her daughter and posted her nudes online just after he leaves, and Sebastian later explains that he did that because his therapist had been overcharging; when Kathryn pulls Cecile's hair back hard after Cecile mentions Court's ex-girlfriend, "bulimic headcase", unaware that she is talking about Kathryn; when Cecile asks Kathryn: "Do you wanna have a sleepover?" after the two of them made out, "for practice", and Kathryn just stares back at her, eyes wide; Annette claiming that she is not interested in Sebastian, then sneaking off into the bathroom to put her perfume on, even though she and Sebastian are going swimming in the pool; when Ronald gets fired after Cecile's mother's barely contained racist rant ("Oh, don't give me any of that racist crap! My Husband and I gave money to Colin Powell!"), and then he yells: "The black man is gone!" while leaving; when Ronald says he doesn't have Cecile's phone number nor email, and Sebastian tells him: "Email is for geeks and pedophiles"; Kathryn muttering "Fucking idiot" after having a conversation with Cecile where she explained to her what an orgasm was, while Cecile does her "happy dance"... I could go on.] The fact that the movie was actually based on the 18th century French erotic novel somehow makes it even funnier.These are the scenes in question:https://youtube.com/watch?v=GSFsEMw-yWUhttps://youtube.com/watch?v=rwwMn3Y6rUAhttps://youtube.com/watch?v=XPhIDSIfVXUhttps://youtube.com/watch?v=Bb2XlqE9OUghttps://youtube.com/watch?v=hpliHwPiYYUI also liked how Kathryn's ex-boyfriend, Court Reynolds, the catalyst for the whole plot, didn't even appear in the movie, except for a brief flashback scene. (Maybe that was supposed to show how pointless the whole thing was?)The ending with Sebastian getting killed was unexpected and sad, but the downfall scene that followed was glorious, especially with "Bittersweet Symphony" playing in the background. Plus, it is just so... 90s.https://youtube.com/watch?v=x4PD9k-PQFwIt was still a good movie (a great fun to watch, if anything) but not what I expected.That is not the only example, of course. When I read the plot synopsis for "Blue Velvet" [college student finds a severed ear in the field, goes on to investigate, uncovers the case of a young woman being blackmailed and exploited by a sadistic sexual psychopath], I expected the movie to be seriously dark and creepy psychological thriller, with a bleak ending. Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of disturbing elements throughout the movie, but once again, it was full satirical and even farcical parts, and in the end, the movie itself seemed to be satirizing/subverting the seemingly idyllic portrayal of suburbs and small American towns, that was common in the 50s. The "dream of robins" scene really took me aback:https://youtube.com/watch?v=ncnq2pu4PlEAs well as the infamous joy ride/pass Blue Ribbon scene:https://youtube.com/watch?v=z2G1Ht59cpMFrank's introduction scene is both creepy, and humorous in a dark, bizarre way:https://youtube.com/watch?v=senNDipdmPoI also didn't expect the movie to have a happy ending (the bad guy gets killed, the protagonist survives and gets the girl, the victim is rescued and reunited with her son; though her husband did get killed in the final act). To be fair, that was before I was familiar with David Lynch's opus, so I didn't expect something as unusual/unique and artistic. It was a great movie, I enjoyed it, but it took a very different approach to the dark subject matter than I expected. That was a good thing, but it surprised me.These are some interesting articles on the subject:https://ift.tt/2X2Lbjy good example is "The Ninth Gate". I expected a dark, disturbing supernatural thriller with surreal imagery, but the movie came off as more like a campy film-noir with some supernatural elements. However, I didn't like that movie as much. I made a post about it over a year ago.https://ift.tt/34Orej6 you agree? Are there any movies that turned out very differently than you expected (given the summary and the subject matter, trailer, and/or other things)? In the end, did you like it or not? via /r/movies https://ift.tt/2K6TO7m
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