New Line Cinema, Rated PG-13
Written and Directed by Gary Ross
A while ago, I wrote about how the recent film What Dreams May Come was visually stunning yet had little of substance. Then along comes Pleasantville, a film even more visually impressive, with a LOT to say.
The movie is about a brother and sister, David (Tobey Maguire) and Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon). David is a fanatic for a '50s television show, "Pleasantville." Jennifer, on the other hand, is concerned only with her social life. Both are, in their own way, completely superficial teenagers. Most Hollywood movies would leave it at that, without explaining why they are this way. But right away, you can tell that this is not an ordinary Hollywood movie. It turns out that they are acting this way as personal reactions to their parents' divorce. One night, when Jennifer's date and David's television-viewing plans conflict and the remote control is broken, a mysterious TV repairman (the legendary Don Knotts) knocks on the door and soon presents them with a special remote, which soon zaps David and Jennifer into an episode of "Pleasantville" (apparently the repairman did this because David knew more about the show than anyone else). They are now Bud and Mary Sue Parker, the children on the show. Bud is, of course, fascinated by this turn of events, and knows exactly how to act in this black-and-white world. Mary Sue on the other hand, wants out as soon as possible. Bud tries to teach her how to act in this world, but mostly she acts the same way she always has and ends up introducing sex into this world. Soon after, a lone flower turns color, one of many images in the film that is bound to stay with you for years. It takes a while to figure out why things change into color, but soon it spreads all over town, and some consider it the spread of a disease, especially a city council member named Big Bob (the late J.T. Walsh). Soon, the town is split apart, in a not-so-subtle allegory for racial prejudice, and those in the town must decide whether or not they should accept how much their world has changed.
One of the most brilliant touches of this film is that it takes a while for Bud and Mary Sue to become colorized as well. Being a product of the '90s did not make them color from the start. As I said before, both were superficial in their own way (no more superficial than characters in a '50s sitcom) and had to learn to change and accept things about themselves just like others in the town before they could be colorized.
The cast of this film is one of the best I've seen in quite a while, with memorable (probably in some cases, Oscar-worthy) performances by Maguire, Witherspoon, William H. Macy and Joan Allen as the parents, and Jeff Daniels as Mr. Johnson, the owner of the malt shop who discovers that he has always wanted to be an artist. The film's message is one of the most challenging I've ever seen, especially to come out of Hollywood, and you will find yourself debating the issues raised in the film for weeks afterwards. The message itself is also open for debate, not to mention the meaning of its ending, which could easily be compared to that of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The movie makes you think the whole way through, and is filled with glorious art direction, lighting, and cinematography you won't soon forget. 1998 has so far been a fantastic year in terms of visual brilliance, and Pleasantville is a fantastic example of style helping to convey substance, rather than ignoring it altogether. ****
Update: After viewing the DVD, many of my feelings about this film remain, however the allegory has quite a few flaws as does the film's message as a whole. The film was still well executed and it drove its point home, but the point it is trying to make is in its own way just as naive as the denizens of Pleasantville. I admire the film not for what it's about but how it's about it, as Ebert says, and I still give it **** for that reason.
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