Pretty Persuasion
DIRECTED BY MARCOS SIEGA
Much like Natalie Portman before her, 17-year-old Evan Rachel Wood is magnetic on-screen and emotionally mature beyond her years. Unfortunately, even her acting chops aren’t compelling enough to carry this uneven dark comedy. Kimberly (Wood) is an unprincipled teenager whose ambition is to be famous, no matter the cost. After recognizing her nebbishy teacher’s (Ron Livingston) fetish for young girls, she urges her friends to come forward as his sexually abused victims. The subsequent trial becomes a media circus, which Kimberly exploits to make herself into a celebrity. To ensure her success, she begins an affair with a lesbian news reporter, played by the always-magnificent Jane Krakowski. Kimberly manipulates her way through one relationship after another, her scheme culminating in an ending that is described as a twist, but which comes off as merely twisted. This movie tries to walk the line between darkness and humor, like such gems as Heathers and Election, but it leaves the viewer feeling uncomfortable and unsympathetic.
Bob Merrick
