Pleasantville. It's just around the corner.
A stellar
ensemble cast turns writer/director Gary Ross's
"Pleasantville" into a film that transcends its
surface easygoing nature by presenting a film
with outstanding performance, beautiful visuals
and deep insights into communities and the
individuals who dwell within them.
Starring Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon as
a 90's brother/sister who find themselves stuck
inside a 1950's style television show along the
lines of Ozzie and Harriet, "Pleasantville" goes
much deeper than it first appears. Yet, in many
ways, the performances seem so effortless that
it is easy to take the entire film for granted
as a piece of pleasant looking fluff. That would
be a huge mistake as "Pleasantville" is so much
more.
As the brother and sister, Maguire and
Witherspoon are simply marvelous with a solid,
sibling like chemistry. Maguire, seemingly
forever typecast as the good guy, plays the more
withdrawn, pleasant but happy watching his
favorite TV show ("Pleasantville") while his
sister is more outgoing, social and enjoys
pushing boundaries. An argument over which show
to watch leads to an intervention by a TV
repairman with a special remote (the repairman
is played by Don Knotts).
What follows is a film that is truly beautiful
to the eye and yet filled with deeper statements
about our society, about the way we view each
other and ourselves, about fear and oppression
and the evolution and de-evolution of society as
a whole. The wonderful thing about Ross's
"Pleasantville" is that Ross doesn't necessarily
decide for his viewers the "right" way to
think...there is a balance here that shows the
pros and the cons of the 50s and the 90s...and
the balance may be in celebrating the journey
but not being so damn afraid of it and of each
other.
Maguire and Witherspoon's parents in the film,
played by the incomparable William H. Macy and
Joan Allen, are also stellar in their roles.
Allen, in particular, takes an extremely
challenging role and, well for lack of a better
phrase, brings tremendous color to it. Allen's
transformation as she surrenders to her own
thoughts and feelings and dreams is mesmerizing
to behold. Likewise, Macy, in a role filled with
much fear of change, is simply wonderful as a
father who TRULY does love his family and yet is
remarkably afraid of what that may mean.
There are several strong supporting
performances, but perhaps none as strong as that
of Jeff Daniels. Daniels, in my estimation a
tremendously underrated actor, is wonderful here
as a man who discovers his own color and then
shares this openly against tremendous
resistance.
The film's cinematography is exceptional with a
perfect blend of color, especially as characters
begin to transition in and out of feelings and
risking and letting go and growing. Wisely, the
adding and subtracting of color is done with
great subtlety that perfectly represents the
characters as they change.
An outstanding score by Randy Newman along with
exceptional production design complement the
film and its script perfectly.
"Pleasantville" has endured as one of my
favorite films for many reasons, but mostly
because it is a reminder to me that the changes
I wish to see in society I must first make
within myself.
© Written by Richard
Propes
TC Candler's Comment
N/A
Jacob
Hall's Comment
N/A
