Plot
Two 1990's teenagers find themselves in a 1950's sitcom where their influence begins to profoundly change that complacent world.

Release Year: 1998

Rating: 7.5/10 (61,609 voted)

Critic's Score: 71/100

Director: Gary Ross

Stars: Tobey Maguire, Jeff Daniels, Joan Allen

Storyline
A brother and sister from the 1990s are sucked into their television set and suddenly find themselves trapped in a 1950s style television show. Here they have loving parents, old fashioned values, and an overwhelming amount of innocence and naivete. Not sure how to get home, they integrate themselves into this "backwards" society and slowly bring some color to this black and white world. But as innocence fades, the two teens begin to wonder if their 90s outlook is really to be preferred.

Cast:
Tobey Maguire - David
Reese Witherspoon - Jennifer
William H. Macy - George Parker
Joan Allen - Betty Parker
Jeff Daniels - Bill Johnson
J.T. Walsh - Big Bob
Don Knotts - TV Repairman
Marley Shelton - Margaret Henderson
Jane Kaczmarek - David's Mom
Giuseppe Andrews - Howard
Jenny Lewis - Christin
Marissa Ribisi - Kimmy
Denise Dowse - Health Teacher
McNally Sagal - Science Teacher
Paul Morgan Stetler - College Counselor

Taglines: Nothing Is As Simple As Black And White.

Release Date: 23 October 1998

Filming Locations: Pasadena, California, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $8,855,063 (USA) (25 October 1998) (1636 Screens)

Gross: $40,568,025 (USA) (28 March 1999)

Runtime: 124 min

Trivia:
The author of the book that Reese Witherspoon's character is reading, D.H. Lawrence, was an early 20th century author, poet, playwright, essayist, and literary critic. His works were considered highly controversial when they were written, and confronted issues such as emotional health and vitality, spontaneity, human sexuality, and instinct.

Goofs:
Continuity: On their way to school on the first day, Jennifer/Mary Sue gets angry and pulls her hair clips out - just before Skip pulls up in his car. After Skip drives away her hair is suddenly clipped back again.

Quotes:
[first lines]
[David is gazing admiringly at a pretty blonde girl]
David: *Hi*
[chuckles]
David: I mean, Hi. Uh, look, you probably don't think I should be asking you this. I mean, not knowing you well and all? I mean, you know, I, I, I know you, 'cause everybody knows you. I just don't know you technically. Uh, anyhow. Uh, I don't know what you're doing this weekend, but my mom's leaving town, and she's letting me borrow the car.
[the camera pulls back to show that the girl is standing several dozen feet away and, in fact, is smiling and looking at another boy]
[...]

I heard about this movie, but I didn't know that it would be THIS good....

Rating: 10/10

I knew what this film would be about before I rented it, but I'm stunned that it would be THIS good. Nothing against "Saving Private Ryan" or "Shakespeare in Love", but this film should have won Best Picture in 1998 and it was a shame that it wasn't nominated. It's an even bigger injustice that it did not get a nomination for best screenplay or cinematography.

In the hands of another writer, this movie could have been made as just a parody of 1950's sitcoms like "Leave It To Beaver" or "Ozzie and Harriet." But this film isn't about how clichéd those series look decades later. It's about the false nostalgia for a past that never existed. We survived the past and we know that everything turned out all right. Because of this, we selectively choose our memories and weed out the unpleasant ones. That's why the past is sometimes seen as "the good ol' days." Pleasantville does not represent how the 50's actually were but rather an idealization of what people THINK the 50's were---no one had sex, everyone got along swell, and life was fairly easy. Nothing could be further from the truth, and there are many film from that era which show how real people (even in suburbia) actually lived. This film argues that free will and choice is ESSENTIAL to life and that we should embrace freedom instead of fearing it. It isn't just about making out, but having the OPTION to make out.

Another reviewer claimed that this film was an attack on the 50's, but David and Jennifer could very easily have been dumped in the world of "The Brady Bunch", "Gilligan's Island" , or "Batman." But setting "Pleasantville" in a 1950's sitcom allows for the brilliant metaphor of black and white versus color. Black and white photography is a stylized depiction of the universe, but unless you're color blind it's not the way you actually see the universe. When we first see Pleasantville's citizens, all of them are cardboard cut-outs of stereotypes. As they begin to open up and become real people, color seeps into their world. The catalyst seems to be the willingness to experience new sensations and become vulnerable. Jennifer has slept with lot of guys when she was in the normal world, so sex does not change HER into a color character. On the other hand, when she actually finishes a book (without pictures) for the first time in her life, THEN she becomes colorized. Similarly, David does not bloom into color until he breaks out of his aloofness and defends his "mother." Compare the way he ignores his real mother at the beginning of the film to how he consoles and comforts her at the end to see how much David has changed.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. There are a lot of films out there that are very entertaining and/or very moving--like "Raiders of the Lost Ark" or "Titanic." Movies like "Pleasantville" which challenge the audience and force them to think are very rare, and should be treasured by the discerning filmgoer.

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