Valmont
Orion Pictures Corporation | Release Date: November 17, 1989 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
5
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The Frears version is cerebral and claustrophobic, an exercise in sexual mindplay. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
The film is rapturously beautiful, enticing us into a lush, aristocratic world. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Forman's treatment is another matter entirely - infinitely more subtle and, using the intrinsic bias of film, far more naturalistic. [18 Nov 1989]
75
Chicago TribuneDave Kehr
Valmont is a superb piece of craftsmanship, impeccable in every detail from lighting to costuming, but as a work of art it remains tentative and blurred. [17 Nov 1989]
70
Los Angeles TimesSheila Benson
But seductive as his surfaces are, Forman's tack doesn't hold for long. His changes have muted a great tale of betrayal by intelligence and he has blunted the malign inevitability of Laclos' story. [17 Nov 1989]
63
USA TodayMike Clark
Valmont, to my surprise, isn't the best movie of Choderlos de Laclos' novel. Blame overripe material, as well as Forman's benign approach to an essentially nasty yarn. [17 Nov 1989]
60
EmpireStaff (Not Credited)
Making 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. Read full review
60
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
Milos Forman's meticulously produced Valmont is an extremely well-acted period piece that suffers from stately pacing and lack of dramatic high points. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The 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. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Livelier, 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. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
Milo 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. Read full review
30
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
For 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. Read full review
20
Washington PostRita Kempley
With its callow cast and playful tone, there is nothing dangerous about Forman's variation on the novelist's schemes. Read full review
20
TimeRichard Schickel
Valmont 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. Read full review
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