Pretty Persuasion (2005)
Average Rating: 4.9/10
Reviews Counted: 76
Fresh: 24 | Rotten: 52
Pretty Persuasion aims for high satire but falls short of poignancy by depending on too much black humor, with too little redeeming humanity to provide balance.
Average Rating: 4.4/10
Critic Reviews: 28
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 24
Pretty Persuasion aims for high satire but falls short of poignancy by depending on too much black humor, with too little redeeming humanity to provide balance.
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Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 9,503
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Movie Info
One of the "popular girls" decides to put her mean streak to work in this black comedy. Kimberly Joyce (Evan Rachel Wood) is an outwardly friendly but inwardly cold and manipulative teenager who attends an exclusive private school in Beverly Hills when she's not making fun of her twentysomething stepmother (Jaime King) or listening to her business mogul father (James Woods) rant about the many people he hates. Kimberly's best friend is Brittany (Elisabeth Harnois), who doesn't seem to notice
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Cast
-
Evan Rachel Wood
Kimberly Joyce -
Ron Livingston
Percy Anderson -
James Woods
Hank Joyce -
Elisabeth Harnois
Brittany -
Jane Krakowski
Emily Klein -
Selma Blair
Grace Anderson -
Danny Comden
Roger Nicholl -
Stark Sands
Troy -
Michael Hitchcock
Headmaster Charles Meye... -
Robert Joy
Horowitz Larry -
Jaime King
Kathy Joyce -
Adi Schnall
Randa -
Josh Zuckerman
Josh Horowitz -
Clyde Kusatsu
Judge Carl Munro -
Alex Désert
Joe security guard -
Cody McMains
Kenny -
Johnny Lewis
Warren Prescott -
David Wagner
Morgan -
Brent Goldberg
Rick -
James Snyder
Dave -
Mike Erwin
Barry -
Ira Wood
Martin Stivers -
David C. Taylor
Carlyle Cream -
Lisa Arturo
Stephanie Swift -
Shanna Olson
Tiffany Minx -
Tina Holmes
Nadine -
Perry Hayes
Sound Guy -
Christopher Thornton
Emmett Friedman -
Deprece Reddick
Sudan -
Julie Wittner
Bystander -
Aydiee Vaughn
Bystander -
Navid Negahban
Mr. Azzouni -
Octavia L. Spencer
Woman -
Angelo Spizzirri
Cody -
Amanda Harley
Bobo -
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Pretty Persuasion Trailer & Photos
All Critics (85) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (26) | Rotten (53) | DVD (7)
Good writing aside, this screenplay contained the elements of two different films. One of them might have been quite persuasive.
Top CriticExtremely well written in the fearless way of a smarty pants on a roll in the university cafeteria.
Wood's fine work is undermined by the movie it's trapped in, which feels like a rough draft of itself: Skander Halim's screenplay is unnecessarily twisty and gimmicky, and some of the teenspeak dialogue falls flat, already out of date.
The screenplay by Skander Halim falters. It's too convoluted and cloudy to have the intended effect.
Self-conscious, overdone, shallow, and just not up to the level of its star.
Leaves no gender, race, class or religion untouched in its scabrous effort to show how cruel humans can be. But it also leaves viewers with no one at all to like, or believe.
The film is as disturbing as it is amusing, reveling in the hypocrisy of its hopelessly dysfunctional world.
Probably the darkest high school film since Heathers, which is no bad thing.
Solid performances make it work, even if the film seems slightly undernourished.
If you enjoy dark comedies like Election, Heathers, Jawbreaker or Mean Girls, then Pretty Persuasion should fit nicely into your DVD collection.
Director Marcos Siega seems to have a hard time deciding if he's satirizing or perpetuating offensive behavior. He also seems torn between making us laugh and making us think.
a dark teen comedy that tries way too hard to be a dark teen comedy
The very dark comedy is about the crossing point of righteousness and exploitation.
The movie -- a variation on the standard teen comedy -- is quirky and funny, but ever so dark.
“Pretty Persuasion” is a formidable effort that shows how powerful, rich, pretty young girls might get their way if they just stop feeling and just start thinking.
Audience Reviews for Pretty Persuasion
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Latest News on Pretty Persuasion
November 30, 2005:
In "Theory," Reynolds, Mortimer & Townsend Will Co-StarRyan Reynolds, Stuart Townsend, and Emily Mortimer will star in "Chaos Theory," says The...
October 6, 2005:
Summer Tomatometer Wrap-up #4: The Worst of the SummerOver the past few days, we've tried to counter the common misconception that this summer's cinematic...
September 19, 2005:
Ryan Reynolds and Marcos Siega to Test the "Chaos Theory"Variety reports that actor Ryan Reynolds and "Pretty Persuasion" director Marcos Siega...
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