Pleasantville
Taking its cue from the bland, boring whitebread sitcoms of the 50s such as Leave It To Beaver, Father Knows Best, and Ozzie And Harriet, the fictional sitcom within the movie basically has its formula subverted when two modern day teens (Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspon) find themselves magically transported into this world only to turn it upside down with their ways of thinking. The movie certainly does something right with the casting of Don Knotts (Barney Fife himself) as the mysterious TV repairman who provides the remote control responsible for their entry there, though whether he was a hand of God type figure or some type of mad scientist conducting an experiment is open to interpretation. Once inside the black and white TV world (and in the roles of the son and daughter of the TV family), it isnât long before the sexually liberated Witherspoon starts taking liberties with the ultra-square community, first by seducing the captain of the basketball team (Fast And Furiousâ Paul Walker), which results in the town slowly starting to change from B&W to color, first with flowers and eventually people. Itâs definitely indisputable that Reese (in the role that broke her into the mainstream) is the standout performance in many ways, with her unparalleled beauty and sex appeal, and the filmâs theme which she represents that throwing off the shackles of repression is the only path to true personal freedom is a valid and potent one; As her brother (and the one who insists that they play along by the rules), Maguire acquits himself with his geeky nerd persona that he would later perfect as Peter Parker; As the TV dad who tries to figure out whatâs happening, Macy does solid work, even if he recalls his befuddled turn from Fargo at times; Jeff Daniels as the town soda jerk who discovers the joys of artistry and painting is, as usual with Daniels, almost impossible to dislike; J.T. Walsh (in his last role) is suitably imposing as the Mayor; and Marley Shelton is exuberant as the small town sitcom girl whom Maguire winds up falling for; and then there is Joan Allen as their TV mom: Suffering from a âperfectâ TV marriage where sex is out of the question, then getting grilled on the benefits of intimacy by Witherspoon (a crass idea but handled well), Allen does a wonderful job showing her character getting in touch with herself, and welcoming the change it brings to her and the town. The film starts to slip about 2/3rds of the way through, when Walsh and the other âblack and whiteâ townspeople, in obvious fear of the change, begin to act against the Technicolor denizens (one even puts a sign in their window saying âno coloredsâ), and the obvious, blatant allusions the film makes to segregation, Nazism, and Fascism become way too heavy-handed for the tone of the film. Basically, director Gary Ross breaks the rules of the format too stridently: when the 50s sitcom characters resort to smashing windows, burning books, and harassing people coming down the street, they cease being those archetypes and instead become your usual stereotypes of Hate, all just to drive the filmâs point home. The film recovers with a fine courtroom scene (inspired by To Kill A Mockingbird), but the final moments are just mildly baffling (particularly the final shot). Overall, a finely written, acted fantasy drama despite its minor flawsâŚ
8/10