newjersian This is the most realistic, most truthful movie about American society that I've seen in the last years. We raised a generation of smart, but selfish and manipulative people, who are now the managers of America. They think, like the heroine of Pretty Persuasions, that the world is an orchestra, and they is the maestro. It shows how truth, honesty and decency became outdated qualities here. The movie pictures very vivid portraits of promiscuous, dishonorable youngsters and selfish older perverts who actually represent the top circles of our society. At some points the movie becomes a grotesque, but our life is not much better. It's not a pleasant picture. But that's the truth!

Avid Climber Pretty Persuasion is an intrigue that will leave you breathless with shock. It is devious, manipulative, and well thought out.Each character has enough depth to be solidly constructed and give us meaningful dialogs. Sometimes, as we follow the main girl, it feels like a monologue, a dry one, but all of it points to a genius after what she wants.The tone is just, some elements are a bit caricatural, but never over the top, just enough to resonate with the audience, and make a point. The whole setup is simple, like the editing, the camera shots, and the story, but it all to underline the razor precision of the mind behind it all. It makes the dramatic reveal even stronger.Do not underestimate this film, it packs a moral punch.

reidy-christopher 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.

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.