"Too flip to be serious and too smug to be rousing."

Last night I watched a movie called Pretty Persuasion with a friend. This movie was also a Sundance nominee, and we thought that it had an interesting cast containing Evan Rachel Wood (Thirteen), Ron Livingston (Office Space , plays Berger on "Sex and the City”), Selma Blair and James Woods (Virgin Suicides). I can’t say that I liked it all that much- the movie just never drew me in.

This movie was a dark comedy about a girl, Kimberley, who will basically go to any lengths to ensure herself a career in acting. In many reviews I have read about this film they all take note of the movie’s all around mean-spiritedness and also it just seems like the movie is trying too hard to shock, and when I feel as though a movie is trying too hard I find it hard to enjoy. You know how they have movies or TV shows that make you say “AH I can’t believe they did/showed that!”? Well, you could tell Pretty Persuasion was asking for that kind of reaction and it didn’t particularly deliver. In trying to be a hard-core Mean Girls, it ends up coming off as a blatantly offensive movie. Also, in trying to touch on the racism pointed towards the people from the Middle East, the movie comes off as too rude, too nasty, and a bit racist in itself. I understand that the director, Marcos Siega, wanted to create a quirky and honest dark comedy similar to Ghost World; however, there is very little humanity shown throughout the movie and it seems as though there is too much focus on the wickedness possessed by these young characters. The characters have very little depth and many scenes just seem useless. Thinking back on the characters, I can’t find a protagonist. It seems as though there is no one character that you like or that you find an ounce on depth in. One reviewer, Bruce Kirkland, claimed "Muckrakes in such a convoluted, bizarre way that it threatens to become what it seems to be satirizing: A racist, homophobic, mean-spirited tract,” and I must say I agree 100%.

All in all, I didn’t enjoy it so much. It definitely didn’t make for the best Valentine’s Day movie to watch but Blockbuster was out of basically every chick flick. I wouldn’t recommend it but who knows, it may just be your cup of tea.

-- sorry, i always forget my name
LIZ