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Somehow, David and his party-girl sister (Reese Witherspoon)
find themselves transported into the black-and-white world
of the TV series.
All of a sudden Dad becomes their Dad and Mom becomes - their
Mom.
But, as you would expect from a TV soapie, even an old one,
things are only for show and there is no depth to life. Everything
occurs in predictable sequence with nothing out of the ordinary
ever occurring. The basketball team has never lost, books
have no words in them, and the toilets - well, there are no
toilets.
David enjoys the return to old values but his sister is determined
to spark a bit of life into the town and, all of a sudden,
Pleasantville is turned upside down.
Things take a turn for the interesting as teenagers all of
a sudden discover sex and all the residents who begin to move
out of their written-for boxes find they are changing from
black-and-white character roles, into coloured people. Words
appear in books - until the library is placed off limits -
and window art flourishes until non-acceptable colours (everything
other than grey, white or black) are banned.
This, of course, sparks a split in the community where the
Monotones start to segregate the Coloureds.
Pleasantville, the movie, is all about change and
people's readiness to accept it. Their opposition to it leads
to strife and writer/director Gary Ross uses the imagery of
Nazi Germany and racial segration in America to force you
to examine the resistance to change.
But, while it has a strong message, Pleasantville
delivers it in a light, entertaining way that uses wit to
make its point. An example is the inspired choice of using
Don Knotts - a key character in The Andy Griffith's Show
- as the gatekeeper for David's warp back to 1950s America.
Tobey Maguire is his usual understated, softly spoken self
who seems to be the font of wisdom for all in the movie. Reese
Witherspoon is good as his feisty sister, while William Macy
plays the boring dad to utter perfection.
For mine, however, the standouts in an outstanding cast are
Joan Allen as Mom and Jeff Daniels, who comes across as the
soda-shop owning Mr Nice Guy. JT Walsh is wonderful as the
mayor who refuses to see that change is good - and is portrayed
through the camerawork as having more than a touch of Hitler
in him.
The transfer on to DVD has been handled brilliantly and this
is one of the best-looking discs yet released. The images
are razor sharp and the use of B&W and colour is just
about perfect.
Pleasantville is an immensely enjoyable way to spend
two hours watching - and 10 years trying to work out how they
managed to get colour into it.
Conclusion: Movie 90%, Extras 80%
Continued:
DVD details at a glance >
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