The potential was there--the actors were great (esp Macguire as nerd and a young, fat Reese Witherspoon and the puppyish Daniels), the 50s atmosphere seemed to set everything up for nostalgia and irony, and the premise of 90s children bringing color and passion in a 50s television show seemed like a great story. Unfortunately, the heavyhanded message detracted from the experience. The worst signs were the over-dramatic courtroom monologue adding nothing particularly original ("what's different is inside us"), the extremely heavy racial and religious allegory (girlfriend offering an apple? things that are off-limits to "colored" people? mccarthy-era fahrenheit 451-style book burning??), the overplayed color metaphor (the first few times were great, having it last to the end of the story dragged). It begins to seem a bit dumb and heavy...
and its message is ridiculously left-leaning. A housewife, and some high school kids, find passion after sex (and masturbation, after which a tree goes up in the obvious flames), with no regard to teenage pregnancy, stds, etc. A bored schoolgirl finds passion after reading D. H. Lawrence. Leaving one's husband and starting extramarital affairs is given a thumbs up (and never resolved afterward.) Someone paints a housewife nude on a wall and the attack on it is made out to be some kind of anti-art, anti-passion mccarthyism crusade. In the end, the hero exhorts the audience to find their true feelings and passions, including anger. The town turns colorful. Boring, and biased, and an obvious, heavyhanded story.
and its message is ridiculously left-leaning. A housewife, and some high school kids, find passion after sex (and masturbation, after which a tree goes up in the obvious flames), with no regard to teenage pregnancy, stds, etc. A bored schoolgirl finds passion after reading D. H. Lawrence. Leaving one's husband and starting extramarital affairs is given a thumbs up (and never resolved afterward.) Someone paints a housewife nude on a wall and the attack on it is made out to be some kind of anti-art, anti-passion mccarthyism crusade. In the end, the hero exhorts the audience to find their true feelings and passions, including anger. The town turns colorful. Boring, and biased, and an obvious, heavyhanded story.