Built on the model of every precocious adolescent to grace the silver screen, Kimberly Joyce manages to stand apart from her predecessors for one simple reason – she’s actually as smart as she thinks she is.

“Pretty Persuasion” follows the reliable story line of a precocious young girl who uses her budding sexuality to manipulate friends and superiors alike. But it redefines the teenage revenge comedy with winning expertise.

At the ripe age of 15, Kimberly (Evan Rachel Wood) knows what most women must learn from their agents – that a p.r. nightmare can be the best thing to ever happen to you. An aspiring actress, Kimberly convinces her friends Brittany (Elisabeth Harnois) and Randa (Adi Schnall) to join her in suing their hated English teacher on trumped-up charges of sexual harassment. The scandal draws national attention, but as Brittany realizes too late, Kimberly is the only one who gets famous. It all spins wildly out of control, of course, but for once the young protagonist was counting on that.

Director Marcos Siega successfully guides his young charges through Skander Halim’s sharp and bitter script. The supporting teens are underwritten – Ms. Schnall’s Muslim Randa, in particular, is totally opaque – but each actress manages to convey a likability that shines through the shallow satire of her character’s stereotypes. Ms. Wood, meanwhile, proves her acting skill again and again, shifting among ingenue, vixen, brainiac, tease, and dilettante with disturbing ease. It’s hard to imagine another young actress managing the role of Kimberly.

James Woods oozes through the film as her father – his special brand of country-club racism is a marvel – while Jane Krakowski presents her patented use of excessive self-esteem. Ron Livingston and Selma Blair don’t quite bring their characteristic sparkle, but they are facing the thankless task of portraying a possible pedophile and his hapless wife.

“Pretty Persuasion” mercilessly apes predecessors like “Heathers,” “Election,” “Poison Ivy,” and “Mean Girls,” whipping an onslaught of stereotypes and hypocrisies at the audience with gleeful indiscretion. In the hands of less qualified team, this would have come off like a stilted, overly witty episode of “Gilmore Girls.”

Mr. Siega, however, deftly overrides the standard morality lesson of the teen flick. “Pretty Persuasion” does find itself backed into a corner toward the end, but that seems to be the point anyhow. Getting what you want isn’t always as much fun as getting there.