Purely Joyful Movie!

From my favorite movies..

Crappy film

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The curious thing about this movie set in a private Beverly Hills high school is that it is a satire on human sexual practices. Yes, a satire on sex. Usually we have sexploitation, sex titillation, etc., but making humans look ridiculous and a bit comical having sex…? That's a bit unusual. (Well, come to think of it, maybe not.)Anyway, there is also plenty of sexploitation here and the usual hypocrisy about sex is woven in along with a surprising amount of honesty about what people do when they think no one's watching—or better yet WHEN someone is watching.The script is clever with plenty of over the top raunchy dialog that I can't quote here. (You can go to the lengthy quotes page on IMDb and see for yourself.) But what I really liked about this movie was Evan Rachel Wood who played 15-year-old Kimberly Joyce, the sociopathic little darling. (Wood was 17 at the time.) She was so cute and so, so in love with the part. She delighted herself and me too.BEWARE POSSIBLE SPOILERSPart of the comedic and bemusing effect throughout is achieved by contrasting one thing with another. For example Kimberly befriends innocent hijab-wearing Muslim girl Randa (Adi Schnall). Why? Because, Kimberly says, "when I'm standing next to you I'll look more attractive by comparison. Isn't that great?" Randa replies straight-faced, "Very nice." Another example is when the teacher who is accused of sexual harassment by his students (and found innocent, by the way) gives a birthday present to his wife. It is a skirt very similar to the ones worn by his students. He has her put it on and he more or less drools, suggesting that maybe he isn't so innocent.Finally I must note in passing that James Woods who plays Kimberly's father looked pathetic on the couch in his underwear as he receives titillation from his cell phone. That scene shows me that James Woods is a pure actor who cares not how embarrassed he's going to be when, yes, he actually sees the movie.--Dennis Littrell, author of the movie review book, "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote"

I chose to watch this movie because it was available, looked like a pop corn college flick. There is something about this movie which keeps you on it and for someone who gets bored very easily, this is quite an achievement. Part of the attraction I guess has to do with the innuendos, hot girls and that the story revolves around an alleged sex crime. But this is quite common and this is not why I gave the movie a 7. The reason I gave it a 7 is because of the lucid way in which the central character is developed and the director's portrayal of characters and situations which are quite realistic while at the same time not taking the "college" flick feel away from the movie. Not a must see. Maybe a maybe see

While I watched "Pretty Persuasion" I couldn't help but sit there and catalog all the movies it was trying to be. "Heathers" came to mind first, then "Election", then "Cruel Intentions", then "To Die For" and even, "Pretty Poison", which I've never seen, but have read about (and that one came out about forty years ago). Yes, I'll admit by now that this Teen-Age-Badgirl-Master-Manipulator idea is officially a genre, and going into "Pretty Persuasion" you kind of accept that it is going to tread familiar ground...but seriously...so familiar you can't but sit there and consciously think about those other, better films? Every caustic, nasty bit of dialog that came out of Evan Rachel Wood's mouth just crashed to the floor of the set and laid there. It wasn't shocking. It was shockingly bad. And sophomoric. I remember when I first saw "Heathers" at the movies in 1989. I remember that experience because it literally was shocking. I was actually shocked by it. But delighted too. Because it was so original and yes, witty, it made it enjoyable and that was even all the more shocking. This movie tries to do the same thing but fails miserably. It fails because, A.) It was all ready done twenty years ago and B.) It was grade school level humor at best. Seriously, it was embarrassing. James Wood's made a complete fool of himself. I've never liked him anyway, but here he confuses acting disgusting with actually being disgusting, which seems to be a problem he shares with the filmmakers. Every single character in the movie is a cretin. No one has a sense of humor, let alone a wicked one. The only appealing character is the one played by Jane Krakowski, but she isn't given much to do in a subplot that goes nowhere. Most of the actors were very good, but again, in the service of characters you actually despise, what is the point? There's no one to route for here, even in an anti-hero kind of way. The filmmakers must've sensed this on some unconscious level, because the film veers into straight melodrama in the last half hour or so, which makes the questionable idea of viewing the movie even more disturbing. There's also a sort of anti-Americanism going on. There's this Arab teen girl character who is the butt of jokes and then ends up blowing her brains out in some weird bid for audience sympathy. Is the writer an Arab? He seems to hate the U.S. Of course we're all shallow, psychopathic, materialistic, morally bankrupt miscreants, yeah, I know, we get it, but that doesn't keep the Arab family from making a bee-line to Beverly Hills. Kind of a mixed message, huh? How about Poughkipsie? I get the feeling this film got made because someone (from Arabia maybe?)had deep enough pockets to drop a huge bag of money on some movie executive's desk and say "Make my kid's movie." I say this because the whole thing reeks of "vanity project". What person in Hollywood read the script and thought, "Oh, yeah, a sub-par rip-off of "Heathers"! Let's do it!" But apparently that bag of money was big enough to attract top acting talent and above the line contributors. Which is why this gets three stars. The photography was excellent. The Director of Photography knew where to put the camera. At least he knew what he was doing.

Evan Rachel Wood stars as Kimberly Joyce, an aspiring starlet gifted with an amazing intellect and killer sex appeal - all while being a high-school student in a private school. An apparent culmination of a broken home, a privileged lifestyle and a lack of parental boundaries, "Pretty Persuasion" marauds as a satire that cuts right down to teenage sex issues, racism and media irresponsibility but its really just a drama with an unhealthy fixation on comedy and no particular place to direct its send-up at.Armed with an acumen for persuasion, Kimberly uses it on everyone, from her uncouth businessman father (James Woods) to her best friend, Brittany (Elisabeth Harnois). Lying and manipulation is second nature to her, she even manages to convince herself from time to time. She's an anti-heroine, who you'd never root for. Not even when you learn her motivations. She knows her beauty, although good-looking, is limited, and does not set her apart from the competition when it comes to auditions and screen roles. Kimberly's not the most popular girl either, as she dispenses insults and backhanded compliments with razor sharp proficiency but she is promiscuous, trading sexual favours for actual favours. Wary of her 'talents' are her teachers and principal, as they appear malcontented at her strong and formidable disposition.Unfortunately, the English teacher, Percy Anderson (Ron Livingston) draws her ire when he punishes her and a new student, an immigrant Arab girl, Randa (Adi Schnall) who was unfairly reprimanded because of a defiant Kimberly. Randa sticks with Kimberly and Brittany, although uncomfortable with their licentious behaviour and oh-so insipid American ways, a true innocent to their immoral antics. At a slumber party, Kimberly schools them in order to enlist them in corroborating an accusation of sexual assault at the English teacher. They go along unwillingly, with the realisation of instant feminist heroism and increased exposure, in the case of Kimberly even if they lose. This incident sets off a media frenzy led by Emily Klein (Jane Krakowski), a lesbian reporter who finds herself in dangerous Sapphic territory with a master seductress in Kimberly. Allying herself with her, Emily sets out on a one-sided crusade against Percy.What it does well is its careful unwrapping of the truth behind Percy's accusation. It keeps us in the dark on whether he is indeed guilty. Various instances of Percy's behaviour with his wife (Selma Blair) and furtive looks at girls in the school make us question the validity of those claims.There's a sense of irony in this film, when the filmmakers themselves make caricatures of the characters in the script. It's so conceited and self-aware that it lampoons everyone and everything, from the Columbine shootings to the war in Iraq. The high-schoolers are either presented as brain-dead but attractive or sex-obsessed losers, adding to their self-parody. Everyone's a victim in this film and everyone is an object of contempt. Just as "Saved!" (with another rising starlet in Jena Malone) did it heart and humour, this film did it with condescension and disrespect.Despite an uproariously hilarious portrayal by James Wood, in a role that you might think is actually James Wood as he is, it's still a weak and offensive film that just does not know what it wants to be. It's social commentary gone the way of opine bashing. Shame, considering Rachel Evan Woods actually gives a great performance in this, even more impressive than in "Thirteen". Undeniably, she's one to look to out for in the future.