the audience applauded

From my favorite movies..

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

If you scan the list of movies in your local paper, surrounded by all of the vampire movies, action movies, and Halloween thrillers you will find Pleasantville, a charming parable about contemporary society. Gary Ross, who wrote the screenplay for Big, has written and directed one of the more interesting films of the year. Some critics have mistaken it for a movie about the 50's. It is really about social norms, the social order, and the various forms of reality that we construct.The basic premise is simple enough. A brother and sister arguing over a remote control encounter the equivalent of a mass media black hole and wind up in an old 50's sitcom that looks suspiciously like Leave it to Beaver. They discover that they are, in fact, in Pleasantville--the 50's town where all couples have twin beds, nobody on the basketball team misses a shot, and geography lessons are limited to Main Street and Elm Street since there is no existence beyond Pleasantville. As our 90's teens try to adapt to life in Pleasantville, they discover that their awareness of life beyond has the potential to disrupt the social order. Because Pleasantville is a TV town from the fifties everyone in the town is in black and white. But as the presence of the siblings begins to change things in Pleasantville, patches of color begin to show, and other disruptions occur. The malt shop owner discovers his interest in art, people begin to change their routines, and the basketball team begins to miss shots occasionally. But the entire social order falls apart when the TV father of the siblings (wonderfully played by William H. Macy) comes through the door, and announces "honey, I'm home." But this time his wife is not there with martini and dinner waiting.As the changes begin to accelerate, some of the residents of Pleasantville change from black and white to living Technicolor, so that the town is divided between people of color and the rest. Signs that declare "no coloreds" begin to appear in the windows, and the town is clearly divided and threatened with total breakdown of the social order.Some critics have taken this as a poke at the mythical 50's, but I don't think that this is really the point of the film. The fifties did bring us McCarthyism and homogenous suburbs that were largely a result of white flight from urban areas. But the 1950's and the 1990's are just metaphors for larger forces in all societies everywhere. When our need to maintain the illusion of stability and pleasantness leads us to squelch dissent and diversity we end up living a lie. That is the primary theme of Pleasantville. The next century promises to bring even more challenges in terms of culture wars and increasing religious, ethnic, and cultural diversity. In this context, Pleasantville is definitely worth a look. This is a story worth telling and a story well told.

Just four months after the incredibly nuanced "The Truman Show", "Pleasantville" hit theaters featuring many similar themes. Remarkably, it is just as good as the Jim Carrey feature.For a basic plot summary, "Pleasantville" begins with a sibling argument. David (Tobey Maguire) wants to watch the Pleasantville (a corny 1950s-ish TV show) marathon, while Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) is expecting a hot date with her boyfriend. In the fight over the remote, both teens are inexplicably sucked into the TV set and thus into the black-and-white world of Pleasantville, where everything is perfect...or is it?The hallmark of this film is that it deals with some pretty heavy social issues without getting preachy or self-indulgent. Is the Pleasantville utopia something to strive for? Or is it something to fear and must have some "color" added to it? This is not a movie of black-and-whites, but many shades of grey.It is also just a fun movie as well. Don Knotts plays an incredibly goofy character, and the humor of David and Jennifer trying to adapt to their new territory is often hilarious. Basically, "Pleasantville" strikes the perfect balance of fun and drama.One can't review this movie without also regaling the performances of William H. Macy, Jeff Daniels, and Joan Allen in very key roles. They are perfectly cast and given a plethora of material to work with, making every scene an important one (nothing is wasted or prolonged).Thus, while perhaps not containing quite as much gravitas as "The Truman Show", "Pleasantville" is just as good of a movie in its own right via its combination of deep themes, humor, acting, and fun.

Pleasantville (1998): Dir: Gary Ross / Cast: Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, William H. Macy, Joan Allen, Jeff Daniels: Wonderful film about change in people, lifestyles and culture. It regards a TV show set in April 1958 where all seems perfect in the black and white world inhabited by the characters. Plot regards siblings zapped into their T.V. with a magic remote control given by a mysterious repairman. This is questionable since the power of the remote control seems contrived and never explained. Nonetheless they are in Pleasantville and Tobey Maguire plays along so not to upset the balance between reality and fantasy. Reese Witherspoon opts to educate the high school boys on sex. Things get complicated once colour enters the frame. Some people prefer tradition while others embrace change. Tremendous achievement by Gary Ross who exploits sitcom stereotypes but the true gem is the exquisite art direction that reveals the time and frame these characters live in day by day. Maguire and Witherspoon well cast in the leads with different attitudes towards the sudden ordeal and they are backed by a terrific supporting cast. William H. Macy and Joan Allen play off familiar sitcom parents. Jeff Daniels plays a guy who works at a malt shop and is having an affair with Joan. The film expresses our sense of change in values and lifestyles and our sense of self. Score: 8 / 10

David (Tobey Maguire) is a geek in high school. Real life is diminishing expectations, family divorce and no female companionship. He's obsessed with an old TV show Pleasantville. While watching a Pleasantville marathon, he has a fight with his twin sister Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) and they break the TV remote. TV repairman (Don Knotts) shows up and give them a special remote which sends them into the show. They become George (William H. Macy) and Betty Parker (Joan Allen)'s kids Bud and Mary Sue. She's not happy until she sees her new boyfriend Skip Martin (Paul Walker). Bud is working at Bill Johnson (Jeff Daniels)'s soda shop. He falls for Margaret Henderson (Marley Shelton). The kids' interactions start changing the strange purity of Pleasantville and colors seeps into the world.At first, this is a gimmick that has some cute aspects. Don Knotts adds to that sense of a cheap laugh. It has some good fun with Maguire and Witherspoon budding head. Then the deeper profound message seeps into the movie. It is gentle and yet undeniable. A couple of times, I feared the movie would push too hard like calling the people "color". It manages to maintain some distance and follow through on the message without overpowering it. This is quite a film.