Pretty Persuasion
Encyclopedia
Pretty Persuasion is a 2005 American black comedy
/satirical
film about a 15-year-old schoolgirl who makes an allegation of sexual harassment against her drama teacher. The film's tagline is: "Revenge knows no mercy." It was written by Skander Halim and directed by Marcos Siega
. It stars Evan Rachel Wood
, James Woods
and Ron Livingston
and was released in US theaters on August 12, 2005.
Kimberly Joyce (Evan Rachel Wood
) is a high school student at Roxbury, a Beverly Hills school for the wealthy. She and her best friend Brittany (Elisabeth Harnois
) take Randa (Adi Schnall), a new student who recently immigrated
from the Middle East
, under their wing. When Kimberly decides to take her revenge on a teacher, Percy Anderson (Ron Livingston
), who humiliated Brittany, she draws everyone - including her friends, family, and the media (a reporter played by Jane Krakowski
) - into her plot, resulting in unforeseen repercussions. The film makes use of twists
and flashback
s to tell its story.
accusations within a school system, as well as the repercussions of one 15 year-old girl's actions. But the film also makes commentary on many other social issues
in contemporary American culture as well, many of them being controversial. Some of the topics that are commented on include racism
, ignorance
, discrimination
, gender identity
, homosexuality
, intolerance
, immigration
, teenage behavior, suicide
, parenting
, deceit, and fascination with celebrity status and the entertainment industry.
was composed by Gilad Benamram. The film deliberately does not feature any popular music
songs. Similarly, the wardrobe and props do not feature contemporary branding.
.
called it "daring, and well-acted", but also said that it "exists uneasily somewhere between comedy and satire." Phil Villarreal of the Arizona Daily Star
called the film a "scathing and hilarious social satire." James Mottram of Channel 4
opined, "Hovering uncomfortably between comedy and satire, Pretty Persuasion never quite gets the balance right." Carlo Cavagna thought it a "dark teen comedy that tries way too hard to be a dark teen comedy." The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
accused the film of being an "ugly, cheap attempt at satire", and Slant
magazine called it "a pretty unpersuasive lecture".
Critic Armond White
has called the film "ingenious."
The film has a "rotten" 32 percent rating at Rotten Tomatoes
.
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
/satirical
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
film about a 15-year-old schoolgirl who makes an allegation of sexual harassment against her drama teacher. The film's tagline is: "Revenge knows no mercy." It was written by Skander Halim and directed by Marcos Siega
Marcos Siega
Marcos Siega is a film, television, commercial, and music video director. He has also worked as a producer and a musician....
. It stars Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood is an American actress and singer. She began her acting career in the late 1990s, appearing in several television series, including American Gothic and Once and Again...
, James Woods
James Woods
James Howard Woods is an American film, stage and television actor. Woods is known for starring in critically acclaimed films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and in the television legal drama Shark. He has won three Emmy Awards, and has gained...
and Ron Livingston
Ron Livingston
Ronald Joseph "Ron" Livingston is an American film and television actor. His roles include a disaffected corporate employee in the film Office Space, a sardonic writer in a short-term relationship with Carrie Bradshaw in the TV show Sex and the City, and Captain Lewis Nixon in the miniseries...
and was released in US theaters on August 12, 2005.
Plot
Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood is an American actress and singer. She began her acting career in the late 1990s, appearing in several television series, including American Gothic and Once and Again...
) is a high school student at Roxbury, a Beverly Hills school for the wealthy. She and her best friend Brittany (Elisabeth Harnois
Elisabeth Harnois
Elisabeth Rose Harnois is an American television and film actress.-Early life:Harnois was born in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA, and raised in Los Angeles. She attended St...
) take Randa (Adi Schnall), a new student who recently immigrated
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
from the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, under their wing. When Kimberly decides to take her revenge on a teacher, Percy Anderson (Ron Livingston
Ron Livingston
Ronald Joseph "Ron" Livingston is an American film and television actor. His roles include a disaffected corporate employee in the film Office Space, a sardonic writer in a short-term relationship with Carrie Bradshaw in the TV show Sex and the City, and Captain Lewis Nixon in the miniseries...
), who humiliated Brittany, she draws everyone - including her friends, family, and the media (a reporter played by Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski is an American actress and singer. She is most well known for her performance of Elaine Vassal on Ally McBeal, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, and for her current role as Jenna Maroney on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, for which she has been nominated for three Emmy...
) - into her plot, resulting in unforeseen repercussions. The film makes use of twists
Plot twist
A plot twist is a change in the expected direction or outcome of the plot of a film, television series, video game, novel, comic or other fictional work. It is a common practice in narration used to keep the interest of an audience, usually surprising them with a revelation...
and flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
s to tell its story.
Cast
- Evan Rachel WoodEvan Rachel WoodEvan Rachel Wood is an American actress and singer. She began her acting career in the late 1990s, appearing in several television series, including American Gothic and Once and Again...
as Kimberly Joyce - James WoodsJames WoodsJames Howard Woods is an American film, stage and television actor. Woods is known for starring in critically acclaimed films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and in the television legal drama Shark. He has won three Emmy Awards, and has gained...
as Hank Joyce - Ron LivingstonRon LivingstonRonald Joseph "Ron" Livingston is an American film and television actor. His roles include a disaffected corporate employee in the film Office Space, a sardonic writer in a short-term relationship with Carrie Bradshaw in the TV show Sex and the City, and Captain Lewis Nixon in the miniseries...
as Percy Anderson - Elizabeth Harnois as Brittany
- Adi Schnall as Randa
- Stark SandsStark SandsStark Bunker Sands is an American actor of film, television and theatre.-Biography:Sands was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, where he began acting on the stage at age 13 at Highland Park High School. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting from the University of Southern California...
as Troy - Jane KrakowskiJane KrakowskiJane Krakowski is an American actress and singer. She is most well known for her performance of Elaine Vassal on Ally McBeal, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, and for her current role as Jenna Maroney on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, for which she has been nominated for three Emmy...
as Emily Klein - Michael HitchcockMichael HitchcockMichael Hitchcock is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and television producer.In 2011, Hitchcock became a writer and consulting producer for season 3 of the FOX television series Glee, where he had guest starred in season 1 as rival glee club director Dalton Rumba.As an actor, he has...
as Headmaster Charles Meyer - Danny ComdenDanny ComdenDanny Hill Comden is an American actor, director, film producer and writer. He is best known for playing Stevie Hanson in the ABC sitcom I'm with Her, Blake in Urban Legend and Roger Nicholl in Pretty Persuasion. He wrote and directed Sol Goode, in which he also starred...
as Roger Nicholl - Jaime KingJaime KingJaime King is an American actress and model. In her modeling career and early film roles, she used the names Jamie King and James King, which was a childhood nickname given to King by her parents, because her agency already represented another Jaime — the older, then more famous model Jaime...
as Kathy Joyce - Josh ZuckermanJosh Zuckerman (actor)Joshua Ryan "Josh" Zuckerman is an American actor. Perhaps he is known for playing Mark Hughgrant in the science fiction TV series Kyle XY, Eddie Orlofsky for Desperate Housewives both aired into ABC and currently Max Miller in the spin-off of 1990's TV adaption 90210 aired on The CW.-Life and...
as Josh Horowitz - James Snyder as Dave
- Cody McMainsCody McMainsCody McMains is an American film and television actor, best known for playing Mitch Briggs in Not Another Teen Movie....
as Kenny - Selma BlairSelma BlairSelma Blair is an American actress who has worked in film, theatre and television. She has performed in feature films including Cruel Intentions, Legally Blonde, The Sweetest Thing, Hellboy, The Fog, Purple Violets and Hellboy II: The Golden Army...
as Grace Anderson - Clyde KusatsuClyde KusatsuClyde Kusatsu is a U.S. actor.Kusatsu was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he attended ʻIolani School. Kusatsu began acting in Honolulu summer stock, and after studying theatre at Northwestern University, started to make his mark on the small screen in the mid-1970s...
as Judge Carl Munro - Robert JoyRobert JoyRobert Joy is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. Sid Hammerback in CSI: NY and playing Charlie in Land of the Dead.-Early life:...
as Larry Horowitz - Octavia SpencerOctavia SpencerOctavia L. Spencer is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role on Ugly Betty as Constance Grady, the INS Agent turned stalker of Betty's father, Ignacio Suarez and in the 2011 movie The Help as Minny....
as Woman
Themes
The plot primarily focuses on sexual harassmentSexual harassment
Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...
accusations within a school system, as well as the repercussions of one 15 year-old girl's actions. But the film also makes commentary on many other social issues
Social issues
Social issues are controversial issues which relate to people's personal lives and interactions. Social issues are distinguished from economic issues...
in contemporary American culture as well, many of them being controversial. Some of the topics that are commented on include racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, ignorance
Ignorance
Ignorance is a state of being uninformed . The word ignorant is an adjective describing a person in the state of being unaware and is often used as an insult...
, discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
, gender identity
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
, homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
, intolerance
Toleration
Toleration is "the practice of deliberately allowing or permitting a thing of which one disapproves. One can meaningfully speak of tolerating, ie of allowing or permitting, only if one is in a position to disallow”. It has also been defined as "to bear or endure" or "to nourish, sustain or preserve"...
, immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
, teenage behavior, suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, parenting
Parenting
Parenting is the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood...
, deceit, and fascination with celebrity status and the entertainment industry.
Production notes
The musical scoreFilm score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
was composed by Gilad Benamram. The film deliberately does not feature any popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
songs. Similarly, the wardrobe and props do not feature contemporary branding.
Nominations
The film was nominated for the 2005 Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film FestivalSundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
.
Reception
The film was not received very well by film critics. Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
called it "daring, and well-acted", but also said that it "exists uneasily somewhere between comedy and satire." Phil Villarreal of the Arizona Daily Star
Arizona Daily Star
The Arizona Daily Star is the major morning daily newspaper that serves Tucson and surrounding districts of southern Arizona in the United States. The paper was purchased by Pulitzer in 1971; Lee Enterprises bought Pulitzer in 2005....
called the film a "scathing and hilarious social satire." James Mottram of Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
opined, "Hovering uncomfortably between comedy and satire, Pretty Persuasion never quite gets the balance right." Carlo Cavagna thought it a "dark teen comedy that tries way too hard to be a dark teen comedy." The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
accused the film of being an "ugly, cheap attempt at satire", and Slant
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
magazine called it "a pretty unpersuasive lecture".
Critic Armond White
Armond White
Armond White is a New York-based film and music critic known for his provocative and idiosyncratic film criticism, which some have characterized as contrarian. He is currently the editor of City Arts, for which he also writes articles and reviews...
has called the film "ingenious."
The film has a "rotten" 32 percent rating at Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
External links
- Trailer
- Emanuel Levy: Review - Pretty Persuasion
- Cincinnati City Beat: Happy Sundance Ending
- Lisa Schwarzbaum, Review for Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...