Pretty Persuasion
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| Pretty Persuasion | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Marcos Siega |
| Produced by | Todd Dagres Carl Levin Marcos Siega Matt Weaver |
| Written by | Skander Halim |
| Starring | Evan Rachel Wood James Woods Ron Livingston |
| Music by | Gilad Benamram |
| Distributed by | Samuel Goldwyn Films Roadside Attractions Renaissance Films |
| Release date(s) | August 12, 2005 |
| Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,500,000 (estimated) |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Pretty Persuasion is a 2005 black comedy/satirical film focusing on themes of sexual harassment and discrimination in schools, and attitudes about females in media and society.
It was directed by Marcos Siega and written by Skander Halim, and stars Evan Rachel Wood, James Woods and Ron Livingston amongst others. The film's tagline is: "Revenge knows no mercy."
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
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 from the Middle East, under their wing. When Kimberly decides to accuse her drama teacher (Ron Livingston) of sexual harassment, she draws everyone - including her friends, family and the media (a reporter played by Jane Krakowski) - into her manipulative plot.
[edit] Production notes
The musical score was composed by Gilad Benamram. The film deliberately does not feature any popular music songs.[1] Similarly, the wardrobe and props do not feature contemporary branding.[1]
[edit] Cast
- Evan Rachel Wood - Kimberly Joyce
- David T. Wagner - Morgan
- Brent Goldberg - Rick
- Adi Schnall - Randa Azzouni
- Elisabeth Harnois - Brittany Wells
- Stark Sands - Troy
- Jane Krakowski - Emily Klein
- Michael Hitchcock - Headmaster Charles Meyer
- Danny Comden - Roger Nicholl
- Jaime King - Kathy Joyce
- Josh Zuckerman - Josh Horowitz
- James Snyder - Dave Evadsti
- Ron Livingston - Percy Anderson
- Cody McMains - Kenny
- Mike Erwin - Barry
- James Woods - Hank Joyce
- Ira David Wood IV - Martin Stivers
- Selma Blair - Grace Anderson
[edit] Nominations
The film was nominated for the 2005 Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
[edit] Reception
The film was not received very well by film critics. Roger Ebert called it "daring, and well-acted", but also said that it "exists uneasily somewhere between comedy and satire."[2] James Mottram of Channel 4 opined, "Hovering uncomfortably between comedy and satire, Pretty Persuasion never quite gets the balance right."[3] The Seattle Post-Intelligencer accused the film of being an "ugly, cheap attempt at satire",[4] and Slant magazine called it "a pretty unpersuasive lecture".[5]
The film has a "rotten" 33% rating at Rotten Tomatoes.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Marcos Siega. Pretty Persuasion: Anatomy of a Not So Teen Movie. Landmark Theatres. Retrieved on 2007-12-27.
- ^ Roger Ebert (2005-08-26). Pretty Persuasion. RogerEbert.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-27.
- ^ James Mottram. Pretty Persuasion Review. Channel 4 Film. Retrieved on 2007-12-27.
- ^ Sean Axmaker (2005-09-02). 'Pretty Persuasion' is an ugly, cheap attempt at satire. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved on 2007-12-27.
- ^ Nick Schager. Film Review: Pretty Persuasion. Slant Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-12-27.
- ^ Pretty Persuasion. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2007-12-27.
