Pleasantville - New Line Platinum Series

Rating:
Summary: Great, but the details get lost
Review: I hold with both the people who think its a remarkable concept and those who think it is overly blatant in making its (rather leftist) points. Very enjoyable, with or without the shots at the South in the 60's, the religious right, etc (incidently, note there is no church in Pleasantville) So many holes in the plot, so easy to fix-- What happened to the original Bud and Mary Sue (just have them living the 90 kids life for a few days) Who did Pleasantville play in basketball? (put a second school in town) Obviously, Mom figured out that David/Bud is not her kid. This isn't made clear, though. The bench shot at the end. There's more, but they'd give away too much of the plot. Too much big picture, too little on the details-- people notice, and it detracts from the point of the plot.

Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking: Pleasantville
Review: I have just finished watching the DVD version of Pleasantville, and I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised. The technical effects of B/W combined with color are truly amazing, and the story itself is full of symbolism. I have "docked" this movie one point (a **** rating) because there were some small inconsistencies with the ending (i.e. R. Witherspoon remaining in Pleasantville-era, and the "real-life" mother character). One important analogy which I derived from this movie is somewhat biblical, and I hope not to offend some of you reading my review. I found the town of Pleasantville to be symbolic of the Garden of Eden. As in Eden, Pleasantville had no problems, worries, crime, or fear. Not to disparage Eden, but after awhile such an existence would undoubtedly become rather boring and dull. While the transformation into color of Pleasantville's citizens may be interpreted as an embracing of sin and evil, I prefer to think the colorization represents free will. Once the people of Pleasantville were exposed to sex, violence and corruption, only then could they have the ability to willfully choose good over evil. Good and evil are two sides of a coin, and one cannot exist without the other. Without having such choice, we would all live in a black and white world where there would be no appreciation and thanks for what we have in life. In Pleasantville, the concept of being in color is analogous to seeing good and evil and in having the free will to choose one over the other. While tragedies and the evil deeds of others are terrible things which happen to all of us, they also add the spice to life which makes all of our lives exciting, challenging, and unpredictable. Anyway, enough of my theorizing and babble. See this movie, ASAP...especially the DVD version!

Rating:
Summary: A magical, fun, humorous look at humanity
Review: Pleasantville is definitely one of the best movies I have ever seen. It was entertaining, original, and well made, which is something that is very hard to find in movies these days. The acting was superb and it was a truly magical ride all the way through while depicting many of the problems and prejudices in our world today. I was truly shocked that this film was not nominated best picture at the Academy Awards.

Rating:
Summary: Good but nothing more
Review: although the script is dead good, the visual effects and the photography are excellent, the acting is very good - although one should explain me what it is about reese, nothing more than silverstone with a bigger chin- there is something that keeps it from being great, saw it once but wouldn't buy it though.

Rating:
Summary: NOT ALWAYS SO PLEASENT!!
Review: Don't get me wrong, I liked the movie and would watch it again, I just was confused over the message. Reese Witherspoon was trampy in the beginning and I wondered if this was the movies whole plot. They cleaned up their act though and brought out some good points! I was still confused over who the mom hooks up with in the end!!

Rating:
Summary: Paul is breath- takingly georgous
Review: Okay, I think that in the movie, Reese Witherspoon is to dramatic for the role she play. She is too shalaunt and trampy in the beginning, Paul looks great in whatever he does, so I loved it!!

Rating:
Summary: Randy Newman Fans Take Note:
Review: Aside from being the teriffic movie everyone already knows about, the DVD features an alternate "soundtrack" which consists of the films background musical score isolated (i.e. without dialog or sound effercts) along with an ongoing commentary by composer Randy Newman, who just happens to be one most unique and talented (and sometimes slightly warped) musician/writer/composer/arrangers of the last 30 years. Newman gives great incites as to what exactly is entailed in writing the score for a film, including the artistic limitations and problems of being an artist "on assignment". A very interesting extra.

Rating:
Summary: PLEASANTVILLE IS AMAZING
Review: I have watched PLEASANTVILLE at least 5 times, and it is better every time. The cast is amazing. Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon make the perfect brother and sister. Joan Allen deserved an Oscar nod for her brilliant performance. The visual effects certainly deserved Oscar potential as well. There were over 1,700 visual effects shots just for this film alone. That has to be a record. The sets of the 50s are brilliant and beautifully built. The score by Randy Newman is brilliant and reminiscent of the 1950s TV shows. The cinematography is brilliant. The screenplay is purely original and excellent. This film is just AMAZING and well...PLEASANT! If you don't believe me, see this movie! You'll be glad you did.

Rating:
Summary: Good but not great
Review: My rating was going to be 3.5 stars, but I rounded it up to 4. It's a good movie, and visually exciting, but not in the same league as _The Truman Show_, a movie with a similar idea. PLOT: Toby's character humanizes the inhabitants of Pleasantville, a virtual world based on a TV show. They all become more alive. But they merely exchange one form of pleasantness for another! _Pleasantville_ tries to balance entertainment with serious messages (about racism, McCarthyism, etc.) but in an obvious heavy-handed way. The producers also confuse the idealized Fifties with the real 1950s. The sickly-sweet ending defeats the purpose of the whole movie, which is to warn against the dangers of escapism and of glamorizing the past. Everyone lives happily ever after, and father still knows best. I would have preferred a final scene with Pleasantvillians, content to be fully human, yet facing the same problems - crime, drugs, poverty, etc. Maybe someone picks up a newspaper and reads about war in some distant land, or some other tragedy.

Rating:
Summary: Better than Good
Review: Like so few films nowadays, "Pleasantville" makes you think, and it makes you think about many different things. If only more films did this, maybe the world wouldn't be so full of really crappy movies. The visual effects are not only stunning, but they also serve a purpose to the story,and advance the plot. "Visual Effects with a Purpose." It's about time.