Adi Schnall, Danny Comden, Elisabeth Harnois

An exclusive Beverly Hills private school is at the center of a sexual harrassment scandal when a teen girl and two classmates frame one of their teachers.

Flixster Users

66% liked it

8,372 ratings

Critics

32% liked it

74 critics

R, 1 hr. 45 min.

Directed by: Marcos Siega

Release Date: August 12, 2005

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DVD Release Date: December 13, 2005

Stats: 778 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (778)


  • December 15, 2008
    Brittany Wells: "I like this music. Can you buy the soundtrack to pornos?
    Kimberly Joyce: Tiffany Minx, Stephanie Swift... You know, Brittany, a lot of these porn stars have names that sound like ours. So if we wanted to, when we grow up, we could be porn stars. You couldn't, R...( read more)anda. I'm sorry.
    Randa: That is quite all right."


    The setting is one of California's fanciest and swankiest private schools. Our tour guide is the achingly beautiful and effortlessly cruel Kimberly Joyce. Kim thinks she's a kind-hearted and open-minded little ingenue, yet it only takes a few short minutes before we realize there's a black soul hidden beneath this lovely exterior. Kim is leading a school tour for Randa, a soft-spoken Hindu girl who is new on campus. Along with her adorable-yet-obtuse best friend Brittany, Kim takes Randa under her wing, intent on introducing Randa to what their world is all about: basically she teaches the fine art of sexual manipulation, intolerance and venomous selfishness. After a series of events been left undisclosed here, the trio hatches a detestable scheme to shame one of their least-admired educators. Kim, Britt and Randa file false accusations of sexual abuse against their English teacher.


    Mr. Anderson: "Kimberly Joyce, you have the face of an angel. Throw in a ripe, little pubescent body - the devil wears a gray skirt, my friend."


    A teenage version of "To Die For" whose flaws are superceded by a complex, compelling turn from Evan Rachel Wood. A high school send-up more incorrect than "Heathers" and considerably less articulate than "Election". "Pretty Persuasion" is too flip to be serious and too smug to be rousing. And by the time we get around to the big reveal, which feels shoe-horned into the ending, the idea that a puppet master like Kimberly would expend her considerable gifts on the most banal of high school dramas feels ludicrous.
  • October 22, 2008
    I loved EVR in here...I love her in just about everything she does. She did awesome playing the evil, manipulative Kimberly.
  • May 19, 2008
    really messed up, one worth seeing, evan rachel wood is amazing as the meanest girl in school possibly town who does anything to get what she wants. I got it in the bargain bin for 1.99 great buy but its a shame when you see crap like potc 2/3 and spidey 3 fro 12.99 in bargain bi...( read more)ns, and then gems like this for 1.99, oh well mybe more people will buy it this way
  • March 20, 2008
    It was interesting but in a ridiculous way...
  • March 12, 2008
    My personal favorite when it comes to Evan's performances. The movie lacks of sense of rythm and flops at some moments while being captivating at some points. That doesn't make a good movie even if most of it is great, that's the main flaw. But Evan's performance is a truly tour-...( read more)de-force... one of the most underrated performances ever.
  • October 14, 2009
    would like to try it
  • July 21, 2009
    "Randa, what's the greatest thing about this country? Sylvester Stallone? No. It's that anybody can sue anybody at anytime over anything."
    An excellent dark comedy about American values.
    Great cast with among others James Woods, Elisabeth Harnois, Adi Schnall, Ron Livingston, J...( read more)ane Krakowski and the brilliant Evan Rachel Wood in the lead.
  • July 14, 2009
    This movie is great it really shows the human nature and well how people really are Envious and oportunistic and ready to judge.. and isn't it the truth we are all sinners!! great!!

    In Beverly Hills, the fifteen years old evil manipulative aspirant actress Kimberly Joyce (Evan...( read more) Rachel Wood) convinces her friends Randa (Adi Schnall) and Brittany (Elisabeth Harnois) to falsely accuse their Literature and Arts teacher of sexual harassment. She manipulates also the lesbian journalist Emily Klein (Jane Krakowski), who is covering the case, to support their cause in the trial, which leads the group to a tragic and surprising conclusion

    Manipulative high school sophomore Kimberly Joyce leads her friends Brittany Wells and Randa Azzouni in bringing charges of sexual assault against Percy Anderson, their English and drama teacher at an exclusive private school in Beverly Hills. Meanwhile, local reporter Emily Klein, originally assigned to do an insignificant piece on the school, hopes that the scandal will launch her into celebrity in the television news business, while Kimberly's bigoted father, Hank, is concerned primarily with the effect that his daughter's accusations may have on his business.

    An exclusive Beverly Hills private school is at the center of a sexual harrassment scandal when a teen girl and two classmates frame one of their teachers.


    Evil comes in a school uniform.
    The devil wears a grey skirt and her name is Kimberly Joyce.
    Revenge knows no mercy
  • July 10, 2009
    fun! twists & turns
  • July 4, 2009
    At times witty and at times irritating, Marcos Siega's Pretty Persuasion has trouble working as an actual movie with complete characters and convincing dialogue, especially in its first third and nearby its conclusion. But there are at least a good, sustained 50 minutes where it ...( read more)all works just as intended-- merciless, hysterical shotgun satirizing. But, you know... it's so damn tough to buy in a film when you know everyone's on the joke, in front and behind the camera. It always looks like somebody's about to crack up.

    I'm not quire sure who's positionned as the target in Pretty Persuasion. Perhaps everyone onscreen-- overly manipulative & bored teenagers, repressed high school teachers, scandal-hungry journalists or rich'n'distant parents. The finale seems to hinge on how pointless all of this ruckus was-- a feeling you can sort of get about the movie, as a thematical whole.

    Nevertheless, this vagueness in aim in the writing is mostly compensated by some diabolically effective one-liners and a near-perfect ensemble cast, starting by Evan Rachel Wood. As of now, the ridiculously pretty and enormously talented young actress has positionned herself as one of Hollywood's most promising talents-- and you can see why In Pretty Persuasion. Inhabiting a dangerously clever (but monstrously insensitive) 15-year old harpy from top to bottom, she distances herself from the nice-but-troubled blondie roles that put her in the spotlight with just enough irony to avoid phoning in a gigantic, twisted parody of movie mean girls. Also impressive is Elizabeth Harnois as her weak, admirative but just as proud best friend. Ron Livingston is also well-cast as the innocent teacher accused of sexual molestation who is too ashamed of his own urges to truly stand for his own defense. The supporting performers are at times a little broad, especially Jane Krakowski, but mostly everyone is working on the same page.

    I am not sure if I can call Pretty Persuasion a worthy effort-- sometimes, the line separating funny and outright offensive feels a little too thin. Nevertheless, it has balls. Oh, yes it does. And that... that's something most high school comedies desperately lack.

Critic Reviews


September 2, 2005
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

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 dialog... full review

September 1, 2005
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

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. full review

August 26, 2005
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Partly a character study, partly a monster movie (with the girl as the monster) and partly a satire of American values in the modern age, the film is also, alas, only partly successful. full review

August 25, 2005
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The material in Pretty Persuasion needed to be handled as heavy drama, or played completely for comedy, and by trying to have it both ways, the movie has it neither way. full review

August 16, 2005
Marcy Dermansky, About.com

Sad to say, but satires about mean teen girls have gotten predictable. Stale. full review

July 27, 2005
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine

Casts the cruel shenanigans at an upscale 90210 school as a metaphor for virtually everything in contemporary American life. full review

View more Pretty Persuasion reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • crashandburn4life
    March 6, 2007
    This movie rocked...not a fan of evan rachel wood coz of her shit acting in thirteen, but she totally ruled in this movie ....

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Pretty Persuasion Trivia


  • Which actor plays the teacher accused of sexual harassment in "Pretty Persuasion"?  Answer »
  • Evan Rachel Wood played a part in which film?  Answer »
  • Which actor/actress played in the following movies: 'Friendly Persuasion' (1956), 'Pretty Poison' (1968) and 'Murder on the Orient Express' (1974)?  Answer »

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