Dangerous Liaisons is a 1988 American period romantic drama film , directed by Stephen Frears , written by Christopher Hampton and based on his play Les liaisons dangereuses which was itself the adaptation of the 18th-century French novel of the same name by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos . It stars Glenn Close , John Malkovich , Michelle Pfeiffer , Swoosie Kurtz , Mildred Natwick , Peter Capaldi , Keanu Reeves and Uma Thurman .