Pretty Persuasion | 
| Director: Marcos Siega
Actors: Evan Rachel Wood, Ron Livingston, James Woods, David Wagner, Brent Goldberg
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.94
Buy Used: $1.06
You Save: $13.88 (93%)
New (47) Used (62) from $1.06
Rating:  29 reviews
Sales Rank: 49610
Format: Ac-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 99
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 104 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 043396128781
ISBN: 1404912061
UPC: 043396128781
EAN: 9781404912069
ASIN: B000BMY2LA
Theatrical Release Date: 2005
Release Date: December 13, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A precocious fifteen year old girl creates chaos among her family, friends, fellow students, and the media when she falsely accuses her teacher of sexual harassment.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: R
Release Date: 3-JUL-2007
Media Type: DVD
Amazon.com
Unsettling but frequently funny, Pretty Persuasion stars Evan Rachel Wood as a 15-year-old with a talent for manipulation that could easily rival the most corrupt characters in Dangerous Liaisons. Wood plays Kimberly, an aspiring actress and student at an exclusive high school. Her best friend, Brittany (Elisabeth Harnois), has made off with Kimberly's boyfriend and been awarded the coveted lead role of Anne Frank in a school production--a part that was originally offered to Kimberly, but then withdrawn by authorities. Meanwhile, life at home is no picnic: Kimberly's father (James Woods) is a babbling anti-Semite, and her estranged mom calls infrequently. There's a lot of time for the teen to conjure elaborate revenge schemes, one of which catches a teacher (Ron Livingston) and naive Muslim girl (Adi Schnall) in a sexual harrassment trial. The sharp cast (including an excellent Jane Krakowski as a corrupt, televison news reporter) and director Marcos Siega's arch tone are the best things about the film, which veers successfully between loopy comedy and dark, psychological drama. Skander Halim's literate script finds intelligent purpose even in the most banal situations. --Tom Keogh
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| Customer Reviews: Read 24 more reviews...
 If you can't handle irony, don't watch. April 12, 2009
La Profa (usa)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I thought this film was brilliant in every way: the dialogue is witty and penetrating, the jabs at family dysfunction are right on target, and the irony is tragically perfect. Everyone in it falls victim to false values and selfishness--except for the Arab girl, whose victimization at the hands of her friends and her parents is tragic. This movie presents a portrait of the Upper Middle Class American Family at its worst; Evan Rachael Wood is nothing less than perfect--a sociopathic spawn of the devil. I loved this film.
 TEEN COMEDY meets DARK THRILLER - This films does not know what to be... March 8, 2009
Paulo Leite (Lisbon, Portugal)
A very interesting film...
It starts as a great teen comedy about this rich, beautiful and shallow teen (who dreams of becoming a movie star). She befriends a rich Muslim girl (who knows nothing about anything) and the jokes start immediately as the contrast between them is obvious. The comedy tone is further enhanced by the fact that most other characters are caricatures and stereotypes (like her father who is a racist/tough businessman, her mother who only calls her for a few minutes and boys who only want sex).
The comedy tone goes on for some 25 minutes and all we see is the funny interactions between the girls. Until they decide to accuse their English teacher of sexual harassment.
Then, the film starts to switch its mood entirely and goes into the thriller territory as it goes darker and darker through the manipulating schemes devised by the protagonist - with tragic consequences and an ending like Dangerous Liaisons.
This is not necessarily a bad film... the story is well told... but it is obvious that the film does not know exactly what it is (and who its audience is). It is strange because from a certain point on, the comedy loses its laughs and the audience is lost for 20 minutes until the new tone firmly sets in (around 50-60 minutes into the film). Then, even after it's gone darker and darker... some characters obviously still act like a comedy - while the story has already gone for thriller.
I'm sure the distributor felt the difficulty of marketing a film that actually is like two films mixed together. It is obvious to me that they thought it was a safer bet to try to pass it for a plain comedy. The result is that many viewers felt ripped off because they were expecting one thing and got another instead.
If this film would have stayed just on the comedy side OR just on the thriller side, it could have been a killer comedy OR a killer thriller!
As it is, it's an unrewarding movie.
 I bought it with a gift card and still think I got ripped off August 31, 2007
Music Lover in Omaha (Omaha, Ne)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I paid $3.00 for this 110 minutes of brain cell destroying material. This has got to be one of the worst movies ever made. Horrible script that has not a single likable character. I really don't know what to say about this movie. I would not recommend it, I hope parents don't let their kids watch it and I am sorry I watched it. Now, if you want a free copy just find the dumpster that I am about to deposit it in.
ugh August 29, 2007
pjf (MD USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I watched about 10 minutes of this and then decided this was the worst movie ever made. I lost all respect for the writers, producers and actors, particularly Evan Rachel Wood, for being associated with this tasteless piece of trash. Run screaming from any showing. It seeks to shock with pornographic and racist dialogue, but all you can feel is dumbfounded that the "creators" -- and that's giving them more credit than they're due -- apparently believed that obscenity without any redeeming social value becomes satire if it is extreme enough.
This film had as much intelligence as three-year-olds seeking shock value with potty mouthed rantings. Boring, crude, and insulting to anyone of even minimal intelligence -- in fact, I think the dog in the movie was the only one who came out of this production with any integrity. And that's because it was the only one who had no choice about in being involved in it.
Watching anything else -- bread rise, dust gather, paint dry -- would be a better use of your time than giving this even ten minutes
Interesting cinema but disturbing July 17, 2007
W. Connors
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
So there was nothing else on cable one night and I ended up watching this movie. I'm not sure I, personally, would even call it a comedy at all (I gather most people would classify it as a "black comedy"). Also, although it held my attention, just keep in mind before you watch it that it does not have a "cute" ending, nor a "touching" ending, nor a "happy" ending. It has a decidedly disturbing ending. I suppose I can appreciate it on some levels of filmmaking, but I admit that I am a sucker for warm and fuzzy movies with happy endings, which this definitely is not.
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