Pleasantville (1998)

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

Director:

Gary Ross

Writer:

Gary Ross

Stars:

Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, Joan Allen

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 16 wins & 23 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

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.

---

Plot Keywords:

1950s | innocence | 1990s | television | color | 

---

Taglines:

Pleasantville - It's Just Around the Corner

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements emphasizing sexuality, and for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 October 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Amor a colores

Filming Locations:

Pasadena, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£322,622 (UK) (12 March 1999)

Gross:

£790,203 (UK) (26 March 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Larger Than Life Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Native American in the test pattern behind Don Knotts changes to angry and then sad as the movie progresses.

---

Goofs

The announcer in the beginning states that the Pleasantville marathon was 24 hours long, starting at 6:30 PM. The announcer at the end states that the marathon will end at noon tomorrow.

---

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.
[...]

---

Crazy Credits

The New Line logo plays in complete silence.

---

Connections

Referenced in Seabiscuit (2003)

---

Soundtracks

"Dream Girl"
Written by Johnny Mitchell and Robert Carr
Performed by Robert & Johnny

User Reviews

The Colors of Modern Life seems Brighter than ever before

Three movies of the late '90s -The Truman Show, EdTv and Pleasantville- specifically examined how television made an impact on our world, our culture and our values. They both showed larger than life happenings and captured our minds with their perspectives. In EdTv there was a humble video store clerk guy having his life filmed for a reality show, which was happening in present time. Though in Truman Show very futurist and fantastically, Truman Burbank was not even aware that his life is being filmed, offering the viewer the vision of life from God's perspective. Distinctively here in Pleasantville, there is a journey which starts with materializing a TV-series into life and ends up with materializing the life into this TV-series.

The cheerful 1950s' TV sit-com Pleasantville is revived in the '90s on cable. A homebody teen, David Wagner, escapes from the daily rush of the real unpleasant world by watching this show. He doesn't even miss the reruns, memorizes the scripts and speaks them out before the actors in the show say their part. One day after school, he and his sister Jennifer can't agree on the right TV channel to watch. Then they fight over the remote control and it breaks. The new remote, which will zap them inside Pleasantville, given them by a strange TV-repairman.

When they entered Pleasantville, they become the part of the show and turn to black-and-white as the TV show displays. David and Jennifer take up residence as the son and the daughter of the sit-com family. Soon, they realize that there the life is always pleasant; the temperature is always lukewarm and the seasons are always spring with no rain no snow no hot no cold weather, books have no words, roads end where they start, nothing burns and matches are useless, married couples sleep in twin beds, sex does not exist, nobody gets sick, nobody gets hurt and nobody ever questions this hassle-free life. David fits right in as he always dreamt to be, while her sister persists on him to try to figure out what should they do to escape from there. Though she changes her mind when he gets a boyfriend from school. Her attempts of putting her lifestyle on effect causes Pleasantville gets colors. Thus wonderful and frightening changes start to take place.

Pleasantville is a truly original film that soars with dynamism and aesthetic. From a social and deeply political perspective; it has deep meaning and relevance in today's society. Consequently, it should serve as a reminder for most that the world is made up of how its residents think and act. "You can't stop something that's inside you." says David, and that could be summation of all that Pleasantville stands for.