Rating: 
Summary: A "Gee Whiz" Gem of a Film
Review: Prior to his impressive work with 2003's Seabiscuit, writer Gary Ross (Big, Dave) made his directorial debut with this slyly comic gem of a movie. Ross has described himself as a "fabulist," telling his stories in big, bold colors-in Pleasantville's case, literally as well as figuratively.Surrounded by doom-spouting teachers and the drone of American suburbia, ignored by their divorced parents, high school twins David (Tobey Maguire) and Jennifer Wagner (Reese Witherspoon) have developed very different strategies for coping with teenage alienation. Shy, geeky David looses himself in the perfect world of a B&W 1950s sitcom called Pleasantville, while sexually precocious Jennifer pursues guys and popularity. When their mother (Jane Kaczmarek) goes out of town, a fight between the siblings over possession of the television results in a broken remote control. An unlikely good fairy arrives in the form of an elderly repair man (Don Knotts), who offers the twins a remote that will "put [them] right in the show." Much to their horror, the new toy does exactly that, and the siblings find themselves trapped in Pleasantville, in the identities of Bud and Mary Sue Parker, the children of doting parents George (William H. Macy) and Betty Parker (Joan Allen). Pleasantville both spoofs and pays homage to 1950s TV shows--a tough balancing act that Ross performs with uncommon skill. Betty serves her family a gourmet breakfast; the firemen only rescue cats; the basketball players never miss the hoop; there are only two streets in town, no double beds, and no toilets. The weather is always 72 degrees and sunny; people exclaim things like "gee whiz!"; everyone is attractive and good-natured; and of course, nobody has sex. The twins react to their virtual imprisonment in predictable ways. David uses his extensive knowledge of the series to negotiate its pre-fab world, secretly pleased to dwell in his fantasy refuge. Jennifer is bored out of her mind, and against David's insistence that they not alter the show's continuity, she takes basketball captain Skip (Paul Walker) out for a wild night at Lover's Lane. Suddenly a crimson rose is blooming in Pleasantville's B&W Eden. As the town's teens discover the pleasures of sex, color begins to spring up everywhere--at first in little splashes, but then in great swaths. With the show's carefully scripted existence thrown to the winds, the characters break out of their two-dimensional roles and develop real personalities, the profusions of color mirroring these transformations. Even David, who initially fights the changes, begins to see their value: in this environment, he has opportunities for love, heroism, and leadership that he never had in his previous life. Of course, some denizens of Pleasantville don't react well to this colorful metamorphosis. Led by the town's mayor, Big Bob (the late J.T. Walsh), the remaining B&W characters fight to keep the status quo intact; things turn ugly when a group of young ruffians begin to bully and harass the "colored" folks. Here, Ross takes an unfortunate stumble: after a night of riots, book burning, and physical assaults, Big Bob restores order simply by issuing a new Code of Conduct. It's a jarring change; one senses Ross struggling between a lighter and a darker approach, settling awkwardly between the two. He also doesn't know quite how to end the story; apart from a nice scene between David and his mother, the movie drifts to a vague close. This may have been done intentionally; however, it robs the ending of real impact. The use of color as a civil rights metaphor is clumsy at best. For one thing, it's unnecessary: the emergence of color works beautifully as a metaphor for personal transformation, with the characters discovering untapped aspects of their personalities, be it through romance, art, intellect, or new emotional experiences. The attempt at a Big Statement about racism saps the first, stronger metaphor of its impact, and given the movie's all-white cast, also smacks of hypocrisy. Despite these problems, Pleasantvile has many strong points. The script is deft and sharp, crackling with wit and funny one-liners. Ross pays homage to the idealized world of the 1950s even as he lampoons that fantasy and exposes its dark underbelly. The characters all grow in ways that make sense and feel organic. The visuals are wonderful: the town looks appropriately two-dimensional and fake; the costumes are vintage 1950s; the humor-filled Randy Newman score is punctuated with classic tunes of the era; and the gradual transformation from B&W into color is visually stunning. The cast is so excellent that in places it's easy to overlook the film's weaknesses. Tobey Maguire, in his first leading role, carries the story from start to finish, easily holding his own against veteran actors twice his age. Displaying the grace, understatement, and versatility that have become his trademarks, he handles the character's emotional gamut effortlessly. It's a familiar role for him--the awkward boy who grows into a confident young adult--but the approach he brings is so fresh, natural, and appealing that it's easy to see why he excels playing this type of character. Unfortunately, Witherspoon doesn't deserve any accolades. She's far from terrible--she has a number of good scenes, and some of her expressions are hilarious--but mostly she just comes across as shrill and annoying. Playing opposite Maguire is a two-edged sword. On one hand, Maguire can make almost any co-star look good, and working with him probably spurred Witherspoon to try her best; on the other hand, spending so much time on-screen with him makes it too obvious that she's not in his league. The rest of the cast is spot-on perfect. Joan Allen is particularly good as a repressed housewife who blossoms into a passionate, emotionally expressive woman (her scene in the bathtub is an absolute classic). Macy is similarly wonderful as a well-meaning guy completely befuddled by changes he can barely begin to process. He has his best scene stomping around in the rain, repeating "where's my dinner?" as if he expects the meal to materialize out of the sidewalk. In one of his final performances, Walsh is great as the town's benevolent-dictator mayor. Rounding out the main cast is Jeff Daniels as Bill, owner of the town soda shop, who discovers the joys of love and art simultaneously; he plays off both Allen and Maguire beautifully. The supporting players are also strong. Knotts is perfectly cast as the TV repairman; Kaczmarek is very effective in her small role as a divorced suburban mom; Paul Walker shines as doofy heartthrob Skip; and Marley Shelton is warmly appealing as David's love interest, Margaret
Rating: 
Summary: one of the best movies ever made
Review: inventive masterpiece. wow. i was pleasently surprised.
Rating:
Summary: pleasantvilly
Review: Tobey Maguire(Spider-man, SeaBisucuit) and Reese Witherspoon(Freeway, Twilight) are zapped into a black and white television show...living the life of the characters on the show...seeing that the show is in black and white..the two make the town colorful...making some of the town made and some of the town happy. other actors include Don Knotts(wonderful), Joan Allen(The Contender, Face/Off), J.T. Walsh(Breakdown, Executive Decision), Paul Walker(JoyRide, TimeLine), Jeff Daniels(Dumb and Dumber, Speed), William H. Macy(Magnolia, Focus), Jane Kaczmarek(Tv's Malcolm In The Middle), J. Patrick Lawlor(tv's Buffy The Vampire Slayer), Marc Blucas(Tv's Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Wes Craven Presents:THEY), Nancy Lenehan(The Way Of The Gun) and Danny Strong(Tv's Buffy The Vampire Slayer). a good time.
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie
Review: "And every one of those things is in you all the time, if you just have the guts to look for them." -David/Bud Parker (Tobey MacGuire) I got this movie because I am a fan of a majority of Reese Witherspoon's work. I was presently surprised with this movie. The movie opens with statistics about the bleak future (AIDS, famine, over population, etc.). It come to what appears to be (with line eye match) David (Tobey MacGuire) asking a girl out. Only when the camera pulls back you see he wasn't really talking to her. After a sibling spat over who gets to watch TV downstairs, Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) and David are transported into the black and white TV world of "Pleasantville". Jennifer is now Mary Sue and David is Bud Parker. Mary Sue is up to her act being the 'bad girl' on her date with Skip (Paul Walker). The rose is the first thing in Pleasantville to be in color. After Skip tells his friends about hit date with Mary Sue, more colors start to appear. I don't want to give away the whole movie, but it is a good movie. Fiona Apple's rendition of the Beatles' song "Across the Universe" is a great way to end the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Conformity & Immutability Vs. Individuality & Uncertainty
Review: The 1998 film "Pleasantville", written and directed by Gary Ross (who also directed, & wrote the screenplay, for the 2003 film "Seabiscuit"), is an exploration of conformity versus individuality. Two teenagers, David Wagner (Tobey Macguire, who played the lead role in the 2002 film "Spider-Man") and Jennifer Wagner (Reese Witherspoon, who played "Elle Woods" in the 2001 film "Legally Blonde" and its 2003 sequel), are catapulted into the world of a fictitious 1950's television sitcom called "Pleasantville" following a visit from a very odd television repairman (played by the very well known Don Knotts). Upon entering the world of "Pleasantville", David and Jennifer (who have taken on the roles of the show's characters Bud & Mary Sue Parker) become black and white like the rest of the characters and the show itself. However, as time passes, David and Jennifer's modern ways begin to transform the people and town of Pleasantville: things and people begin to acquire color, books that have always been blank contain printed words, high school teams that always won begin to loose, etc. Some people are very excited by the changes, but others aren't. The two most interesting regular Pleasantville characters are Bud & Mary Sue's mother, Betty Parker (Joan Allen, who has received three separate Oscar nominations for her roles in the films "Nixon" in 1995, "The Crucible" in 1996 and "The Contender" in 2000) and Bud's boss: soda-shop owner Bill Johnson (Jeff Daniels in probably one of his best roles). Bill finds the ability to express himself through art, and Betty discovers many new things about herself. Other memorable characters in the film include Bud & Mary Sue's father George Parker (William H. Macy), David and Jennifer's Mom (Jane Kaczmarek, of "Malcolm in the Middle" TV-series fame), Bud's friend Skip Martin (Paul Walker) and Big Bob (J.T. Walsh, 1943-1998, who played John Ehrlichman in the 1995 film "Nixon"). Overall, I rate "Pleasantville" with a resounding 5 out of 5 stars. It's superb cinematography, special effects, plot, dialog and acting make the film completely engaging; and its underlying message is beautifully illustrated throughout.
Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful movie, but not as good as it could have been
Review: David Wagner (Tobey Maguire) is an high school kid obsessed with the 50's TV series "Pleasantville", which seems an ideal place, far from his girlless, nerdlike life with feuding divorced parents. He is mysteriously transported, with his sister Jennifer (Reece Witherspoon) into the black and white world of Pleasantville. At first David eagerly adopts the mode of life there, but he and Jennifer soon bring change--and color--to Pleasantville--both good and bad changes. Well cast, with William H. Macy doing wonders as the kids' "father" in Pleasantville, Joan Allen as their "mother", and Jeff Daniels as the owner of the malt shop who, as things change in Pleasantville, develops a long-suppressed interest in Allen. Jane Kaczmarek does a nice small part as the kids' real mother, one quite different from "Malcolm". In some ways nicely thought out ("Bud" is gone an hour, the time of two weekly episodes in Pleasantville (and it is pretty clear what the episodes would have been about, until the kids change things)) but it seems like two weeks in Pleasantville, in others not so well thought out (How could Bud and Bill paint a mural in the dark? If the Pleasantville basketball team is undefeated, and there is no other school, who do they play?). Still, quite thought provoking. Well shot, with scenes in a bowling alley evoking "Patton" and at Lovers Lane evoking "The Shawshank Redemption". I withhold a fifth star due to the heavyhandedness of the messages that Gary Ross gives us in the second half of the movie. It could have been done better, more subtly. Also, Maguire's acting isn't directed quite as well as it could be by Ross. Maguire is made to come out with these profound statements ("Maybe it isn't just the sex" "There is no right house. There is no right car") in the same offhand, almost squeaky manner. It becomes a bit tiresome. The DVD features are quite good, including the trailer, audio commentary, and being able to watch the movie with just the music, by Randy Newman and very nice. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Commentary on the "Nostalgia Trap"
Review: In a previous review, someone had mentioned that the second half of Pleasantville became a social/political attack on the 50's, which ruined the fantasy aspect that made the movie entertaining. I would argue that the film is an accurate reflection of the "Nostalgia Trap" that we often fall prey to in modern society. The movie is not criticizing the post-war life, it is deconstructing the myth that everything was simple, or black-and-white in the 50's. The comments above are myths that we have developed over the last 50 years (about teen-pregnancy, marraige, etc.). (If you want to read more about these misconceptions and see the historical data, read: The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap by Stephanie Coontz.) My favorite part of Pleasantville is when the mom at the end of the movie is stood-up by her boyfriend, and she says to David, "It wasn't supposed to be this way," and he replies, "It's not supposed to be ANY way." That is the moral I carried out of this film.
Rating:
Summary: A true gem
Review: Pleasantville may be one of the best, most underrated movies of all time. I admit, when it was first released, the premise seemed a bit goofy: two teenagers (played by then-unknown actors) are suddenly cast into a Leave It To Beaver-like classic TV town called Pleasantville by none other than Don Knotts (reminds you a little of the forgettable "Stay Tuned," doesn't it?). Upon their arrival, however, they discover that Pleasantville isn't everything it's cracked up to be and that being "pleasant" means missing out on some basic, vital parts of life (such as toilets, and of course, sex). What follows is an amazing transformation: of the main characters, the town, and even the movie itself, whose stunning cinematography slowly adds bursts of color to Pleasantville's black and white world while simultaneously providing a metaphor for the race conflicts of the 1950s and 60s. The two unknown actors turn out to be the now-famous Tobey Maguire and Reese Whitherspoon, both of whom shine like the stars they are in one of their first movies. Added to this are excellent supporting performances by some of the best in the business, including William H. Macy, Joan Allen, Jeff Daniels, and the late great character actor J.T. Walsh. An absolutely incredible, must-see film.
Rating:
Summary: Divine Intervention
Review: Seven years before this movie was released, there was a short-lived sitcom on ABC called, "Hi, Honey! I'm Home!" that touched on a similar theme of a teenager from a single-parent family of the '90s coming in contact with a 50s television family that he admired. I have often thought of that show when viewing "Pleasantville".
Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, and Jane Kaczmarek are excellent in their portrayals of the modern family affected by a trip into the conservative past. Kaczmarek's role as a divorced mother longing for the life she had before made me regret the fact that many parents often don't care how they act or speak in front of their children these days. Although reluctant to embrace her new surroundings at first,Reese Witherspoon's Jennifer/ Mary Sue reprioritizes her life and becomes a better student, whereas she had been failing beforehand. Maguire's David/Bud has an easier time adjusting, but, like his sister is influential in broadening the horizons of the community into which he was magically transported.
Don Knotts was perfectly cast as the television repairman who changes the lives of the siblings. He appeared just in time to prevent Jennifer from having another meaningless fling, which strikes a viewer as a kind of Divine Intervention. Jennifer's old habits die hard at first, but she develops newer and healthier interests eventually.
The black-and white community is a likeable one, but narrow in its views of the world until the arrival of David and Jennifer. Joan Allen and Bill Macy are delightful as the Parkers, but Mrs. Parker's affair with Jeff Daniels' soda jerk could have been left out. There was no need to take realism that far.
Marley Sheldon was sweet as Margaret, and J.T. Walsh, in one of his last roles was surly and harsh as the Mayor who has difficulty accepting change.
When it is all over, we see both the positive and negative aspects of a bygone era, and feel the need for certain traditional values of the past, but are grateful for the changes of the modern era. The cinematography is innovative, and the story, while not altogether original, is highly engaging.
Rating:
Summary: A+ combination of todays pop culter combined with yesteryear
Review: If I could pick any time to live in, it would be the 50's. A time of innocents and family life. I completely relate to Tobey's character and everything in the film comes in the perfect time and is almost politicle, representing change in generation and family also conflicting with affairs. In a way the film is allegorical but practically every character in the movie changes, making them all the main character. Don Knotts had a nice cameo also.
Overall I give the film an A+ with it's combination on style of todays generation and yesterdays generation and conflicts along with coming of age and romance.
Perfectomundo. A pretty "swell" film.
|
