Curator Watchlist
A glossy, kid-friendly live-action remake that lives or dies on Glenn Close’s gloriously unhinged Cruella. The movie is uneven and often noisy, but its physical comedy, production design, and puppy chaos give it enough charm to work as a light family watch.
Where to watch: Buy
Wed · 1h 43m
Director: Stephen Herek
Starring: Glenn Close, Jeff Daniels, Joely Richardson
An evil, high-fashion designer plots to steal Dalmatian puppies in order to make an extravagant fur coat, but instead creates an extravagant mess.
Stephen Herek
Glenn Close, Jeff Daniels, Joely Richardson
A glossy, kid-friendly live-action remake that lives or dies on Glenn Close’s gloriously unhinged Cruella. The movie is uneven and often noisy, but its physical comedy, production design, and puppy chaos give it enough charm to work as a light family watch.
This remake is less about narrative finesse than about giving Glenn Close a runway to devour the screen. As Cruella, she turns a simple children’s story into a camp spectacle, and that’s the main reason the film still has a pulse. The movie understands that its villain is the attraction, and it leans into that with big gestures, loud comedy, and a fashion-forward sense of menace.
Outside of Close, the film is more competent than inspired. The human romance is serviceable, the plotting is thin, and the animal mayhem can feel repetitive, but the production has a cheerful, old-school studio polish that keeps it watchable. It plays like a live-action cartoon with a stronger sense of physical comedy than many later Disney remakes.
If you’re in the mood for something silly, glossy, and mildly chaotic, it delivers. If you want emotional depth or a remake that meaningfully reimagines the original, this is not that movie. It’s best appreciated as a showcase for one of the great over-the-top villain performances of the 1990s.
clownhead (2.5★) · 913 likes
cruella de vil: wears INTENSELY dramatic monochrome lewks, hates men, can’t drive me: hello? HELLO??
Eric Szyszka (1.5★) · 546 likes
Too much barking! Shut the fuck up with that shit!
vi (4★) · 482 likes
waiting for the 2017 remake starring bianca del rio as cruella de vil
Dylan (4★) · 421 likes
Why Glenn Close should have won an Oscar for her brilliant turn as Cruella De Vil: You may forget what happened in this film, but there is one thing you will never forget: Glenn Close's performance. Close uses a menacing laugh, over-the-top line delivery, and a fiery demeanor to bring Cruella's genuine, cruel nature to life in a dramatically subversive way. Her ferocity in front of the camera makes her character obtrusive, self-absorbed, arrogant, delightfully nasty, and yet incredibly hilarious… more
\milo (4★) · 323 likes
Gay people love Cruella De Vil as much as white people love Starbucks Film Cult first pick
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camp villainy, family comedy, animal chaos, fashion and glamour, live-action remake, slapstick, kid-friendly mischief, obsession and greed
family comedy, camp, slapstick, villain performance, animal antics, fashion world, 1990s remake, lighthearted chaos, studio-era gloss