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All-Reviews.com Movie/Video Review
Pleasantville
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 out of 4
Review by MrBrown
3½ stars out of 4
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Thanks to a magical remote control, '90s fraternal twin siblings David
(Tobey Maguire) and Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) get sucked into the
wholesome, black-and-white, 1950s TV sitcom world of Pleasantville. It's a
gimmicky premise, one that would appear to set the stage for a
too-cute-for-its-own-good film. But writer-director Gary Ross uses the
gimmick as the springboard for a wildly clever fable of self-discovery in
which the two teens' contemporary sensibilities break the citizens of
Pleasantville from their antiquated bonds of repression. Spiritual
awakening is not without its side effects, most visibly being a
part-by-part transformation from drab duotones to vibrant
Technicolor--which leads to a sly (and most unexpected) satire of racial
politics.
The beauty of _Pleasantville_ is while it tackles some issues that are
high-minded, the film itself is not. Ross has his cake and eats it too,
being socially relevant without being preachy, never once forgetting the
film's duty to the audience is to entertain--and that it does. The script
is as funny as it is wholly original, and it is filled with memorable
characters, such as the seemingly happy marrieds George (William H. Macy)
and Betty Parker (Joan Allen) and timid malt shop owner Mr. Johnson (Jeff
Daniels). If the script has a shortcoming, it is that the arcs of the two
main characters, '50s-loving David and wild '90s girl Jennifer, are rather
predictable. The one element of _Pleasantville_ that is perhaps attracting
the most attention is the special effects wizardry used to mix black and
white with color; while the resulting visuals are stunning, what makes the
effects work all the more impressive is how they are used to support story
ideas rather than to serve as gratuitous eye candy.
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