BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

RavenGlamDVDCollector This one is a must-see. Believe me, if you are doing research right now before an intended DVD purchase/rental, let me assure you, you're right on target. Evan Rachel Wood is fantastic in the lead. Indeed, the devil wears a gray skirt, my friends. The gaze of a deer, the cruelty of a tigress... She is wonderfully off-set by the formidable performance of James Woods as her father, who tells it as it is. I would, of course, suggest that you watch this movie a second time, because the out-of- sequence events really confuse the first time round.All that nastiness just because she wanted to be Anne Frank in the school play. Imagine if the stakes had been really serious...Established Evan Rachel Wood as a most watchable young star. Cannot get enough of her! Don't miss THIRTEEN, another must-see!

Argemaluco On a lot of occasions,scandalizing is the last desperate resource of a filmmaker who tries to provoke interest with a provocative subject.But,Pretty Persuasion is one of the little few cases which do not scandalize in a forced way.This is an excellent movie which brings a very important message about the modern culture and,at the same time,it's enormously entertaining,funny and,of course,scandalizing.Although it has offensive moments,I think Pretty Persuasion must be analyzed as a very black comedy which laughs of many stereotypes of the modern North American culture.As any other great satire,it's impossible to deny that the movie hides a lot of truths of the modern life in the brilliant screenplay.The things the main character thinks are thought by a lot of people,but they try to hide them for shame.Pretty Persuasion works on many levels and it has grey characters;nobody is completely innocent or completely guilty.By my point of view,they are all victims of the circumstances,of their education and of their instincts.Or simply,they are all manipulating,liar and badly intentioned people.The only fail I found on this movie is that it's a little bit pretentious on some moments.The performances are extraordinary.Evan Rachel Wood shows her excellent performance in Thirteen was not a chance and that she's one of the most talented young actresses nowadays.I have to admit that I found her performance in this movie better than Natalie Portman in Closer and Reese Witherspoon in Election.Ron Livingston brings a perfect performance.The great James Woods shows an enormous enthusiasm with his character.In spite of some minor fails,Pretty Persuasion is a brilliant movie which is not afraid in scandalizing with the porpoise of bringing valid and very important messages.I liked this movie pretty much.

TwoCrude Spoilers within.I have to add my review of this film, as it runs so counter to the vast majority of the posts. I'll digress for a moment.I remember fighting through two of Shakespeare's comedies in 9th grade. A Midsummer Night's Dream and As You Like It. The iambic pentameter most certainly did not jump off the page. I complained to my teacher that the jokes seemed to be lacking, at least to my 13 year old sensibilities. He told me to reread the plays. Later that year, we watched a film of "Midsummer". The dialogue crackled with life and the almost 400 year old work made all of us smile and discuss the keen ear the Bard had. I saw it as the classic it is.Assuredly, this movie is NOT Shakespeare. Nor is it "Heathers", "She's All That", or even "Disturbing Behavior". It's not even "10 Things I Hate About You" (I know, 10 Things is just "Taming of the Shrew" with a good soundtrack). The films I've just listed had fairly well written scripts. Pretty Persuasion is not funny. It's nowhere in the vicinity of funny. It's a few states over, like the distance from Arizona to western Maryland. The directing of "Persuasion" is unremarkable. As are most of the performances. Wood is good in the unredeemable bitch role, I admit. Her performance wasn't worth the movie's screen time, however.When the Palestinian girl killed herself, I shook my head, wishing fervently that I'd walked out of the theater much earlier in this misbegotten film. Maybe the theater manager would have refunded my money.Rent "Cruel Intentions" instead, or any of the other movies that I mentioned.

triple8 SPOILERS THROUGH:This movie reminded me of so many others-examples-"Heathers", "Mean Girls", "Cruel intentions", and VERY MUCH "Wild Things". I am amazed I hadn't heard of this movie before. It's got it's own unique quality though, despite the reminders of other movies. I mostly liked it although I guess I can see why some people wouldn't. It's not exactly light movie viewing and is very crude in some areas as well as being dark. (Sometimes it almost made "Wild Things" look like a picnic.) Still thought it was intriguing.I found it's strength to be the performances and the high level of getting the viewer absorbed. I didn't move for the duration of the movie as I wanted to see where it was going to go. It succeeds in shocking the heck out of the viewer with some of the places it does go. This movie is provocative. It touches on so many issues( Racism, war, child neglect, media sensationalism, sexual harassment, and plenty more). This is a very thought provoking movie more so then "Wild Things" maybe more along the line of "Heathers" although the main female character really reminded me of the lead in "Cruel Intentions". There were a lot of similarities to all of the above mentioned movies but this movie pushes the envelope a wee bit more. Still at times It seems almost a bit to much as the movie takes on so very many issues.And the amount of crudeness is strikingly high and I could see where some would say it was to much. The movie could have been toned down a little and maybe found a wider audience. It did seem there was a bit of a "try to shock" feeling but I also think the movie was very well written, minus some of the crudity and very interesting and complex. So I'd say I liked it.The end however was a negative. I simply didn't believe she did it all over a guy. I think the ending was very abstract and one could read a lot into it. Ultimately I think it had more to do with the loss of her brother and her genuine desire to play Anne Frank but I could be wrong. But it seemed like her brother was the one person she cared about. (And suicide-that's another theme touched on and man that was awful to watch. I really wish the movie had ended happier.) I guess I'd give this movie a high 7 or maybe a low 8. I'd see it again and have already recommended it to some friends. I could see though where as a movie it would be difficult for this picture to find a large audience. Maybe it would have been better as a play. I could definitely see it on stage. At any rate-if one likes the other movies mentioned above chances are they will like this. My vote's 8.