Pleasantville Review
by "Nathaniel R. Atcheson" (nate AT pyramid DOT net)October 28th, 1998
Pleasantville (1998)
Director: Gary Ross
Cast: Tobey Maguire, Jeff Daniels, Joan Allen, William H. Macy, J.T. Walsh, Reese Witherspoon, Don Knotts
Screenplay: Gary Ross
Producers: Robert John Degus, Jon Kilik, Gary Ross, Steven Soderbergh Runtime: 116 min.
US Distribution: New Line Cinema
Rated PG-13: thematic elements, language
By Nathaniel R. Atcheson ([email protected])
While watching Gary Ross' Pleasantville, I realized how cynical films have become. Pleasantville, as its title implies, is not at all cynical: in fact, I'd say its most notable virtue is its bright optimism for human life. It's a visually impressive film, and one of the only pictures of the year to use special effects to convey a story rather than to blind or assault the senses of audience members. Written with insight and acted with care, Pleasantville is one of 1998s most ambitious pictures.
But, as much as I admire it, it's a seriously flawed picture. I was reminded of my recent experience with What Dreams May Come, which is a visually astounding and ambitious film, as well: both pictures are boundless in their ideas, but both fail to assemble the ideas coherently and make their themes clear. Pleasantville begins like it really knows what its about, but by the end, it seems self-important and simplistic in its claims. Comparisons to The Truman Show are inevitable, but Pleasantville lacks the poignancy and bite of Truman.
It also requires a lot of suspension of disbelief, but I was willing to humor Ross. The film's hero is a high-school nerd named David (Tobey Maguire), a kid obsessed with a TV show of the 50s called Pleasantville. The show is, of course, fictional, but it captures the feel of those TV shows perfectly: dad comes home every night at the same time, shouts, "Honey, I'm home!" and his wife has dinner ready for him. The kids love their parents. The balance is there. Everything is perfect. And, through a series of highly unlikely events (I won't bother explaining, because it's just so strange), David, and his sister Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) end up inside the show -- inside Pleasantville. It's a culture shock, especially to Jennifer, who has the reputation of "school slut."
After realizing they're in black and white ("We're supposed to be in color!" Jennifer shouts), they first meet their parents, George (William H. Macy) and Betty (Joan Allen), and are forced to eat a mountainous breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and ham steak. It's a good thing David is a pro with Pleasantville-trivia, otherwise he wouldn't know who their friends are, what the neighbors names are, and what is supposed to happen in each episode. It's only when they start messing with the equilibrium that things go awry: everything begins when Jennifer has ravenous sex with a basketball jock. From there, real human emotions begin to shine through the perfect facade of the show -- rage, passion, and love emerge, and with these emotions, color.
Technically, the film is fantastic. Ross, who previously wrote the scripts for Big and Dave, is an intelligent writer and a gifted artist. The look of the film -- beginning with the production design and concluding with the remarkable contrasts between black & white and color -- is inventive and a reward for the eyes. The world of Pleasantville is complete, and the image never fails to convince. It's also a well-written picture in its plot details and characterization; the main characters are developed fully, and even the secondary characters are given enough depth to make them interesting.
Of course, it helps that Ross has such a talented cast to work with. Maguire makes a good hero; he's sincere, and he's likable in this role. Witherspoon nails the high school slut image with perfection. Macy is charming as the father, layering a character who could have been very one-dimensional (the final scene in the courtroom is moving only because of him). Allen is powerful as Betty; her development from housewife to the independent woman is one of the more affecting of the film's stories. Jeff Daniels, playing a soda shop owner who discovers that he loves to paint, also gives a fine performance.
There's really only one problem with Pleasantville, and it's a broad problem that affects nearly every aspect of the picture: it really doesn't know what it's about. It's theme is simple enough -- don't hold in your passions, and your life will be better. But Ross' metaphors aren't solid; as much as I like the color idea, it really doesn't make a lot of sense: why certain people "get their color" and why others don't is never made perfectly clear. And then there are little details that irritated me (how do the residents know the colors by name if they've never seen them?).
Blazing with optimism, the film nearly blinds itself in the final hour. The first half, which focuses on the kids' clash with their new surroundings, is often hilarious (the basketball scene is simply ingenious). But when feelings of racism arise, and people are discriminated against for being "colored," the film extends beyond the level of seriousness that its premise permits. Let's face it: Pleasantville is a fantasy that revolves around a lot of things that could never happen. And while it's fine to do fantasy and have serious themes, Ross takes his material far too seriously in the final half hour. Then there's the courtroom scene, which features the late J.T. Walsh as the Rush Limbaugh-type mayor persecuting David for bringing color to their serene world. This scene is totally unnecessary, and simply wipes away any subtlety that the film had managed to gather until that point.
And there's one last detail: the world of Pleasantville has never really existed. People have never been as naive or inexperienced as they are in this film. I like the theme -- I think it's a good idea to embrace your passions. But, when you think about the film as a whole -- the color stuff, the race issues, even the vague poke at the television industry -- it seems the picture doesn't really know what it's saying, and covers it up with simplistic claims like "be true to yourself."
But I can't ignore Pleasantville's strength: it would be a crime to shun a feel-good movie as ambitious as this one. The flaws are there, and they're significant, but they don't erase the heart and hopefulness of Ross' picture. Finally, a film that says there might be something worth living for.
*** out of ****
(7/10, B)
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Nathaniel R. Atcheson
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