Pleasantville (1998) – Review

As it’s already may I realised that I was starting to get behind on my Blindspot movies as I had only seen two out of the twelve titles I picked. So time to spend some time on watching some more and Pleasantville seemed like a very interesting film. The only thing I heard about it in advance was that most of this movie was in black and white, but that color slowly was introduced. That is partly right, but the movie is much more.

David (Tobey Maguire) is a huge fan of the fifties sitcom Pleasantville and can’t wait to watch a rerun marathon during the weekend. There is an opportunity to win prizes as there is a quiz about the show and he knows nearly all the trivia. He has a twin sister named Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon), who is very different from him. She’s very shallow and also looks forward to the weekend but for other reasons. As their mother isn’t around during the weekend she sees a chance to invite a boy over to their house. David and Jennifer both want to use the TV though and during a fight they end up breaking the remote. A mysterious repairman immediately arrives at their door and gives them a new remote. When they use it they suddenly end up in Pleasantville. Initially they try not to stand out in the innocent town, but it doesn’t take long for Jennifer to not abide by the rules she agreed on with David and her actions have consequences for everyone in the little town.

 It’s a very original idea to take an old, simple tv-show in which the characters are very two dimensional and add two teenagers from now to it. By doing so they influence those characters and slowly give them more depth, make them think about themselves and slowly change Pleasantville. The way the two teenagers end up in the show doesn’t completely feel natural but it does fit the concept. Pleasantville is both funny, as the people there don’t have a lot of knowledge and the only thing the fire department does is rescue cats from trees, but it also has a deeper, more dramatic side. It’s about gaining knowledge, finding a deeper meaning within yourself, fighting for it and showing the fear others might have to that change. It means a clash of ideas between people who slowly have become coloured and those still black and white. It’s is a subject which unfortunately remains relevant, but is realised in a beautiful way in this film.

Both Maguire and Witherspoon are great in their roles and it was weird seeing a young Paul Walker suddenly appear, playing a very innocent young man. But Joan Allen, William H. Macy and Jeff Daniels also play important roles and are a joy to watch. The message of being open to change is a beautiful one which is perfectly summed up in the final shot of the film.