Review: Pleasantville (1998)

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Pleasantville

Rating

Director

Gary Ross

Screenplay

Gary Ross

Length

2h 04m

Starring

William H. Macy, Joan Allen, Natalie Ramsey, Kevin Connors, Jeff Daniels, Tobey Maguire, Jane Kaczmarek, Reese Witherspoon

MPAA Rating

PG-13

Basic Plot

Two 1990s teenagers are sucked into a black-and-white television universe.

Review

Life on television in the 1950s was Utopian at best. Where problems could not only be solved in 30 minutes, but with a smile and a cookie.

When you introduce troubled-teens of the 1990s into that perfect world, you get an optimistic film about self-realization and the effects of present-day society on a nearly-perfect, yet horrendously flawed vision of life in an ultimately turbulent era of prejudice and paranoia.

“Pleasantville” begins by looking at two imperfect teens whose mother is going out of town for the weekend. David (Tobey Maguire) is a gawky teen who spends most of his time watching Pleasantville on television. Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) is a self-aware teen who is more interested in getting into a boy’s pants than getting into the right college.

One night, Jennifer has scheduled a date with a cute guy and David has scheduled a date with the television for a Pleasantville marathon. They conflict when they both want control of the remote control and summarily through it across the room and break it.

Almost miraculously, a TV repairman (Don Knotts) arrives at the door with a replacement remote. When they again argue of the remote, they are zapped onto the television screen and become encased in black-and-white.

The TV repairman informs them that because David has such an immense knowledge of Pleasantville, they have been chosen to interact with the citizens of Pleasantville. Jennifer takes the body of Mary Sue and David assumes the identity of Bud.

From there, they are introduced to the perfect world of Pleasantville, a black-and-white wonderland of perfectionism where the basketball team makes every basket and every meal is filled with an abundance of foods.

Their parents, Betty (Joan Allen) and George (William H. Macy) Parker, cannot tell they are different and have no problem recognizing them as their real children.

The society begins to falter when Jennifer refuses to live life as a 1950s “good girl” and proceeds to change the status quo by being sexually ambitious and forcing herself on her basketball-playing date. Bud forces his employer at the malt shop, Mr. Johnson (Jeff Daniels), to change his routine.

So began a process of self-realization among the denizens of Pleasantville. As each person realizes their own antithetical desires, they pull themselves into a world of color.

After that, “coloreds” begin finding themselves prejudiced against by those who feel it’s immoral for them to be expressing themselves in such ways.

Joan Allen gives a terrific performance as the mother who wrestles with hiding her new self and openly accepting it as reality. Jeff Daniels is a major surprise in a performance that is his best to date and gives hope for his future.

Reese Witherspoon is darling and refreshing as the bad girl while Tobey Maguire is entertaining as her nerdy brother.

Leaving a lot to be desired, William H. Macy is sufficient but underused as the father who can’t accept color or a change in his routine.

“Pleasantville” is a smart film that takes its time in characterizing its leads, yet fails to catch on in the end. It begins humorously and then delves into dramatic ironies.

“Pleasantville” tries so hard to be meaningful that as the film winds down, it becomes more Hollywoodized than most series of the 1950s where the good guys win and everyone lives happily ever after.

If the ending had been more ironic than predictable, the film might have been able to beat the similarly themed “The Truman Show” in this year’s “best of” race. Unfortunately, the wonderful acting and dazzling and Oscar-caliber visual effects couldn’t overcome the terribly sentimental ending.

Awards Prospects

Best Picture isn’t out of the question, but it seems less likely than before. Joan Allen is looking at her next Oscar nomination and has a good chance to win. William H. Macy’s chances at a nomination are gone, but Jeff Daniels’ chances have suddenly shot up. Director isn’t likely, but nominations for Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Art Direction, Costume Design, Makeup and Visual Effects are likely. The film will most likely win Art Direction and Visual Effects Oscars.