Amazon.com video review:
Fantastical writer Gary Ross (Big, Dave) makes an
auspicious
directorial debut with this inspired and oddly touching comedy about two
'90s kids (Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon) thrust into the
black-and-white TV world of Pleasantville, a Leave It to
Beaver-style sitcom complete with picket fences, corner malt shop, and
warm chocolate chip cookies. When a somewhat unusual remote control
(provided by repairman Don Knotts) transports them from the jaded real
world to G-rated TV land, Maguire and Witherspoon are forced to play along
as Bud and Mary Sue, the obedient children of George and Betty Parker
(William H. Macy and Joan Allen). Maguire, an obsessive
Pleasantville devotee, understands the need for not toppling the
natural balance of things; Witherspoon, on the other hand, starts shaking
the town up, most notably when she takes football stud Skip (Paul Walker)
up to Lover's Lane for some modern-day fun and games. Soon enough,
Pleasantville's teens are discovering sex along with--gasp!--rock & roll,
free thinking, and soul-changing Technicolor. Filled with delightful and
shrewd details about sitcom life (no toilets, no double beds, only two
streets in the town), Pleasantville is a joy to watch, not only for
its comedy but for the groundbreaking visual effects and astonishing
production design as the town gradually transforms from crisp
black and white to glorious color. Ross does tip his hand a bit about
halfway through the film, obscuring the movie's basic message of the
unpredictability of life with overloaded and obvious symbolism, as the
black-and-white denizens of the town gang up on the "coloreds" and impose
rules of conduct to keep their strait-laced town laced up. Still, the
characterizations from the phenomenal cast--especially repressed housewife
Allen and soda-shop owner Jeff Daniels, doing some of their best work
ever--will keep you emotionally invested in the film's outcome, and waiting
to see Pleasantville in all its final Technicolor glory. --Mark
Englehart
