capone666 PleasantvilleThe worst part about being a 1950s housewife was making your bed. Then making your husbands.Mind you, the post-war married couple in this dramedy would enjoy having separate bunks.During a TV marathon of the black-and-white sitcom Pleasantville, high school loser David (Tobey Maguire) and his much cooler twin sister Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) are magically transported from the free-spirited 1990s to the uptight 1950s.As the siblings navigate their black-and-white surroundings their liberated attitude affects everyone in town, including their sexually repressed parents (Joan Allen, William H. Macy). But as coitus turns townsfolk Technicolor, it begets segregation.A humorous yet powerful allegory on race relations and sexual orientation, this underrated box-office flop from 1998 manages to deliver an array of impactful social messages without getting lost in the science or absurdity of its high concept premise. Incidentally, living inside of a 1950s TV set would give you radiation poisoning. Yellow Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

tsm_pi I guess that traditional values were horrible?People just 'thought' they were happy?That self-gratification, pleasure, infidelity, sex, sleeping around with multiple people and kids losing their virginity, and not waiting, is what makes people happy?Only neat thing was addressing the 'colored' people problem of the past. Neat how they did that. Although they couldn't resist making the white kids seem real horrible.All in all, I think this whole thing was just a bash on traditional values. Values my grandparents, by the way, respected and look back on fondly.Guess the smutty world we live in now is so much better. Thanks for teaching me this Hollywood.I'll let my wife know she's not really happy being a stay-at-home mom and that really she should be looking to branch out and have an affair to really feel alive.

FireFan This movie has a definite charm about it. In the show, blending the withdrawn fantasies of the main character created by a harsh true life with the nostalgic yearning for a flawless existence seen only at a distance in a television program, supernatural consequences occur beginning with the unintended urges of the brother played by Tobey McGuire, when he and his sister start an unexpected argument. At odds with each other from the beginning, their escape into the TV sitcom Pleasantville reflects to the audience like a symbolic moral issue about the need to change for progress to happen and how a few brave souls can really make a difference. I am impressed to see actor Don Knotts in here since I was always amused at his comedies and his role on the Andy Griffith show. This movie has a great story line to build these ideas into it and Pleasantville ends up pleasant after all in a very opposite sort of way. Entertaining young people, and some old, as well as quenching viewers' curiosities about an earlier time, the film follows through logically and with nice acting too. Pleasantville represents an extraordinary displacement of events which will provoke viewers' wonder. Or it may be that it is contrasting an ordinary '50's life-style against an idealistic, yet inhibiting, make-believe world intending to argue the point of 'which is better'? Whichever perspective you want to approach it from, it stimulates a lasting impression on the movie-goer. This show is well worth trying for lighthearted fantasy entertainment intended to be seen by a wide spectrum of audiences.

NateWatchesCoolMovies Gary Ross's Pleasantville is one of the most heartfelt, creative, thought provoking dramedies I've seen in a while. I was floored by its benign, lighthearted first third, which gives way to some unexpectedly deep social commentary, brought to life bu truly remarkable performances, and stunning, storybook cinematography that looks like Sin City had a baby with Rumble Fish. Tobey Maguire, an actor I usually can't stand, is nicely low key, while his sister Reese Witherspoon gets the peppy, in your face persona. Following a terse bit of sibling rivalry, a strange TV repairman shows up, bestowing on them an ancient looking replacement remote. Before they can ask where he even came from, they are magically whisked from their 1990's living room right into TV land, specifically a cheery black and white 1950's sitcom called Pleasentville. They find themselves in a gosh golly, apple pie, white picket fence realm of perky, smiling housewives, rampant celibacy (the characters in this town are essentially shells of humans, and have no idea what sex is...yet;). The naive, mentally stunted townsfolk function at the truncated level that the show's writing is allowed, resulting in strangely robotic, stepford wives like versions of people. That all changes however, when Witherspoon introduces a highschool hunk (Paul Walker, hilarious) to the ol' hanky panky. From there on in the townspeople gradually discover books, music, art, and as such start to see the world in vibrant colors, and become colored themselves. It's a genius idea for a film that's executed perfectly, with some scenarios that really pay off, making you feel and think. J.T. Walsh, always fantastic, plays the town's fearful skeptic of a mayor. William H. Macy nails the father role perfectly (Where's my dinner?!), Joan Allen gives the best work I've ever seen her do, giving force and gentle feeling to the wife who starts exploring herself, and the world around her. The crown jewel acting wise though is Jeff Daniels, as an aloof diner owner who discovers an affinity for the arts. He brings such a warmth and budding humanity to the role. There's subtext relating to Mccarthy-ism, and not letting the powers that be tell how you what to like, how to feel or what to do. There's a lot to enjoy in this package, and indeed all aspects are done so well its a wonder this one hasn't retained acclaim over the years.