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Pretty Persuasion

Play trailer Poster for Pretty Persuasion R 2005 1h 50m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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33% Tomatometer 80 Reviews 62% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
A manipulative teenager (Evan Rachel Wood) and her two friends conspire to falsely accuse a teacher (Ron Livingston) of molesting them.
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Pretty Persuasion

Pretty Persuasion

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Critics Consensus

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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Critics Reviews

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Susan Walker Toronto Star Good writing aside, this screenplay contained the elements of two different films. One of them might have been quite persuasive. Rated: 2/4 Sep 23, 2005 Full Review David Gilmour Globe and Mail Extremely well written in the fearless way of a smarty pants on a roll in the university cafeteria. Rated: 3.5/4 Sep 23, 2005 Full Review 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Skander Halim's screenplay is unnecessarily twisty and gimmicky, and some of the teenspeak dialogue falls flat, already out of date. Rated: 2/4 Sep 2, 2005 Full Review Bob Merrick Out Magazine This movie tries to walk the line between darkness and humor, like such gems as Heathers and Election, but it leaves the viewer feeling uncomfortable and unsympathetic. May 27, 2022 Full Review David Lamble Bay Area Reporter Pretty Persuasion is laugh-out-loud funny for a good stretch... May 9, 2020 Full Review Felicia Feaster Creative Loafing Pretty Persuasion is a slutty little movie pretending to be an important one. Feb 3, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Horror fan 4 A terrific movie filled with good performances and a great ending. Tim Treakle Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/01/24 Full Review Tera K Criminally underrated and wickedly funny! The acting is great, especially enjoyed the performances by Evan Rachel Wood and James Woods. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/10/23 Full Review Jeffrey P Not sure if this was supposed to be satire or not, but it seemed to be in that vein. If not satire, it is to shine the light on certain types of people. It's no 'Heathers' but very mildly amusing. Dragged on too long before finally deciding it wants to be serious for the ending. Simply, I did not like this movie. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 11/12/23 Full Review X O It's an interesting film, really doing its best to make some great points. The music is great up until the song after the end credit music. There is a lot gong on with this film. Far more intellectual than satire. It's an impressively authentic focused film. Worth watching. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/24/23 Full Review Audience Member If Wild Things and Mean Girls had an illegitimate love child. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie is hilarious And its moral story is a quiet series problem of the modern life, Drama Queen Psychopaths. And this movie displays this sickness so simple, yet so so complex. It is a tragedy, yet it is a comedy. It is so dry, yet it is so fleshed. It is so raw, yet it is so elegant. The plot shows the drama queen, Kimberley, operating on a an environment where all little poor hypocrites are under affection of her. Movie shows how everyone else has a share of hypocrisy, pumping up the dramas of the Queens. And Kimberly knows this, and uses this. That is where her "superiority" over others lies. She knows she has the upper hand. While everyone else is busy with their own petty concerns, devil is busy to prepare her drama based on these petty concerns. Every little scene, every actor, every acting is prepared with no mistake, and to the point. Casting was great. Everyone performed well. James Woods at dinner scene, Ron Livingston at dinner scene with his wife, Jane Krakowski at news reporting scenes are all wonderful. Take Robert Joy at the court scene. He is so amazing, by just saying nothing. And Evan Rachel Wood (Kimberly) is just wonderful. She is not acting this drama queen, she knows her by heart ( she must have been either exposed to drama queens to much, or herself is one ) Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Pretty Persuasion

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Cast & Crew

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Marcos Siega

Director

Evan Rachel Wood

Kimberly Joyce

Ron Livingston

Mr. Anderson

James Woods

Mr. Joyce

Jane Krakowski

Emily Klein

Elisabeth Harnois

Brittany Wells

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Pretty Persuasion

A scene from the film PRETTY PERSUASION. A scene from the film PRETTY PERSUASION. On the set of the film PRETTY PERSUASION. A scene from the film PRETTY PERSUASION. A scene from the film PRETTY PERSUASION. A scene from the film PRETTY PERSUASION. A scene from the film PRETTY PERSUASION. A scene from the film PRETTY PERSUASION. A scene from the film PRETTY PERSUASION. A scene from the film PRETTY PERSUASION. View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis A manipulative teenager (Evan Rachel Wood) and her two friends conspire to falsely accuse a teacher (Ron Livingston) of molesting them.
Director
Marcos Siega
Producer
Matt Weaver, Marcos Siega, Happy Walters
Screenwriter
Skander Halim
Distributor
IDP Distribution
Production Co
Palomar Pictures
Rating
R (Language|Involving Teen|Graphic Dialogue|Strong Sexual Content)
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 12, 2005, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
May 2, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$305.7K
Runtime
1h 50m
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