Pleasantville (1998)

Pleasantville (1998)

Directed by: Gary Ross

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Jeff Daniels, and Joan Allen.

Plot: David and Jennifer may be twins, but they're far from similar.  While Jennifer is extroverted and popular, David is introverted and awkward.  These conflicting personalities come to a head when Jennifer wants to watch a concert on MTV, which happens to air the same time as a marathon of David's favorite show, the 1950s sit-com "Pleasantville".  This leads to the TV remote getting broken, bit a mysterious repairman quickly replaces it with a magical one, that sends the twins inside the monochrome world of Pleasantville, where everything is, well, pleasant.  Using his advanced knowledge of the show, David tries to blend in with his surroundings, but Jennifer's rebellious nature causes many changes within the town, including the addition of color to certain objects and people.  How will the townspeople react to the sudden changes in the only world they've known, and will David and Jennifer be able to escape the show?

Good: The acting in this film is great, especially from the people of the titular town.  They do a great job portraying the innocence and almost childlike behavior of their characters, and it's fascinating to watch their reactions to the changes that happen throughout the film.  Jeff Daniels as Bill Johnson, the owner of the soda shop, is a great example of this, as he starts out as clueless without instruction, but shows hidden depths when he discovers his artistic talent.  Joan Allen and William H. Macy are also fantastic as Betty and George Parker, the main parental unit in the show, displaying the different reactions towards the changes that occur.  Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon as David and Jennifer make good leads, and their respective character arcs are interesting to follow.  One of the best characters comes from Don Knotts (of The Andy Griffith Show fame) as the TV repairman.  Not only is this a clever cameo, his character is always hilarious whenever he's on screen.  Randy Newman's music is excellent, ranging from smooth jazz to a beautiful suite.  The writing is also amazing, with themes of change, repression of who you really are, and the false hope of an 'ideal' life.  While some parts are a bit on the nose, many of these messages are important to remind the audience.  This story could've easily been about just the hijinks that would ensue when '90s kids are stuck in a '50s sit-com, but they decided to go the extra mile by including these themes.  But by far, the best part of the film is the special effects.  The mixture of color with black and white is beautiful, and adds to the overall themes of the film.

Bad: Despite never having seen color or experienced things like rain, the people of Pleasantville seem to recognise what they are almost immediately.  They still react with surprise and shock, but the fact that they can identify what the changes are called seems a bit lazy.  Also, as the story continues and becomes more complex, Jennifer seems to get pushed to the background.  This is unfortunate, since she's the one that gets the plot moving by introducing sex and other concepts to the world, and her character arc is pretty interesting.  Finally, the addition of a villain to the story feels a bit lazy.  It gives the characters someone to put the blame on, rather than making the antagonist people's opposition to change in general.  While this does happen during the film, it could've been handled a bit better.

Trivia:

• The books that David describes to the teens in Pleasantville are The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Catcher in the Rye, two of the most banned books in America.
• In the original script, the TV repairman was supposed to be played by Dick Van Dyke.
• Though many people believe that the shot of David raising his arms in the rain is a tribute to The Shawshank Redemption, according to the director, this wasn't intentional.
• When Jennifer enters Pleasantville, she becomes a character called Mary Sue, which is also a fan fiction term for a character who solves all the other characters problems, as well as when an author inserts him/herself in the story as a character.

Final Verdict: I'm surprised that this film isn't as well known as it should be.  It has great characters, smart writing, and amazing visual effects.  The concept alone makes it one of the most unique movies I've every seen.  In short, I'd recommend it to anyone who's interested in this story idea, especially if you grew up watching these kinds of sit-coms.

Next time, we'll return to the world of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Edgar Wright, and Cornettos.

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