Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Oh La La, I Dropped My Baguette", February 18, 2006
If you don't like films with unnecessary graphic language you may want to put "Pretty Persuasion" on your "films to avoid" list. There is so much exploitive language and perversions (mostly discussed rather than demonstrated) that I was regretting my purchase 20-25 minutes into the story, even though I was laughing fairly often-especially at Kimberly's (Evan Rachel Wood) comments about the relationship between her stepmother and her dog. I was amazed that Wood had agreed to do this thing and felt that in a few years she would regret having it on her resume.
But after about 30 minutes I was either hardened to the dialogue or had begun to understand that most of it was there for a legitimate purpose. And to enjoy "Pretty Persuasion" you have to be willing to accept a fair amount of what first seems needless exploitation. It used to be that teenagers went to the movies to see adults making love, now adults go to the movies to see teenagers making love, or at least speaking and behaving suggestively.
This black comedy and parental neglect social statement comes 50 years after Ed Wood featured it in "The Violent Years". Instead of a gang of privileged girls robbing gas stations, 15 year old Kimberly and her two classmates, best friend Brittany (Elisabeth Harnois) and shy Muslim girl Randa (Adi Schnall), bring sexual harassment charges against one of their teachers. And "Pretty Persuasion" introduces a lot more dark wit into the equation, a function of Skander Halim's screenplay and Marcos Siega's direction.
The most intriguing thing about "Pretty Persuasion" is the way it embeds a complementary theme about Hollywood hypocrisy in the very structure of the film. Promiscuous teenage girls and lesbians are established titillation elements in exploitation films. And during viewing you are subtly persuaded that you are watching a fairly graphic exploitation film. It is only upon later reflection that you realize that you have actually seen nothing, everything was implied by the dialogue or staged partially off-camera. A prudish viewer is not offended so much by the images as by the implications that they have supplied themselves.
As a response to the growing sexual exploitation element in films, beginning in the 1930's Hollywood self-regulated itself through the Hays Code. Its provisions stated that: "pictures shall not infer that low forms of sex relationships are the accepted and common thing", "scenes of passion should not be introduced when not essential to the plot", and "seduction or rape should never be more than suggested". The tone of "Pretty Persuasion" is disapproving of the sexual relationships that are taking place, its scenes of passion are essential to the plot, and the seduction takes place off camera; making it at least technically in compliance with the old code.
The story is told from Kimberly's point of view and "Pretty Persuasion is a good example of the power of POV in fostering identification and sympathy for the character through whom we are witnessing the main events. By the end most viewers are perversely hoping that Kimberly will be successful. Few actors could elicit sympathy for this character but Wood manages to do so, you work to resist her but ultimately you lose.
You are further won over at the end when you realize that Kimberly's cynicism is largely justified, even if her actions are not. Were she able to choose, Kimberly would not elect to so cynical, it is simply a reflection of a world that is a major disappointment to her. So the character Wood brings to the screen is one that you go from hating, to sympathizing with, to admiring.
The theme of cynicism, as well as its cause and effect, has never been better dealt with than in this film. Using sex as her commodity and insightful analysis of other's weaknesses as her weapon, the disillusioned Kimberly is pretty much able to manipulate the world to suit her designs.
Wood is becoming the Tuesday Weld of her generation but is treating us to stuff in her mid- teens that Weld did not do until her mid-20's. Think of "Pretty Poison" and "I Walk the Line". Or even more appropriately Weld''s portrayal of Abigail in "The Crucible", because at its core "Pretty Persuasion" is a modern version of Arthur Miller's classic; an intriguing blend of "The Crucible", "To Die For" and "Heathers".
After watching Wood in "Pretty Persuasion", you realize that it is not something to be purged from her resume but something she should highlight.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Where will it all end?, December 20, 2005
Don't be misled by the review comments on the front of the box. This movie is neither "extremely funny" nor is it "a comedy brimming with zesty shock value". There really isn't anything funny about teen suicide or high school shootings, nor does this movie try to suggest that there is. Instead the story is about a girl whose life has been made painful by the death of her brother in Iraq, a mother who deserted her, a father who is an obnoxious slob, a best friend who stole her boyfriend, and the part of Ann Frank in the school play that gets taken away from her and given to the same "best friend". What makes the main character, Kimberley, special is that she maintains her poise despite all these negatives, at least on the outside. Only towards the end of the movie do we really get anything like a glimpse of the torment that is raging inside of her, and the harsh, mechanical, even cold exterior that she must maintain in order to keep her internal world under control. The comment made by the father of the Muslim girl at the end of the movie is the most poignant - "We came here in search of the American Dream...and instead we found a nightmare!" The movie, to me, is an indictment of western society, of the mess we have made of our families, our communities, our value system, and ultimately it's about the pain and suffering this heaps on our children. Excellent performance by the lead actress.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The New Millenia's version of Heathers, December 31, 2005
From Smother Magazine - smother.net:
Evan Rachel Wood ("Thirteen"), Ron Livingston ("Office Space", "Band of Brothers", "Adaptation"), James Woods ("The Virgin Suicides", "Any Given Sunday", "Casino", "Diggstown", and Selma Blair ("Can't Hardly Wait", "Hellboy", "Cruel Intentions") all star in a movie that is part "Election" and part "Heathers". Among the super-elite and rich students at a Hollywood high school are three students led by precocious and delightfully tasteless Kimberly Joyce played with the same ferocious nature that Evan Rachel Wood used in her character in "Thirteen". The other is an Arab immigrant and Grace who Selma Blair adds the same innocence and gullibility that she effortlessly guided in "Cruel Intentions". They accuse their English teacher (Ron Livingston) of sexual abuse and gain notoriety as well as some infamy as the case goes to trial. The movie is engaging and hilarious in a dark sense. One of the best and funniest scenes in the movie is James Woods character on a phone sex conversation and then whipping his face with some spoiled tissue paper. Revenge isn't always what you imagine it to be about.
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