Pleasantville (1998)

Recommended

USA

Feature Film

Writer/Director: Gary Ross

Cinematographer: John Lindley

Composer: Randy Newman

Cast: Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, William H. Macy, Joan Allen, Jeff Daniels, J.T. Walsh, Don Knotts, Marley Shelton, Giuseppe Andrews

A nerdy teenaged boy and his sex-mad twin sister find themselves magically transported into the black and white world of the 1950s sitcom Pleasantville, and with them they bring a certain hint of colour, which soon begins to spread through the town, livening up its inhabitants' “pleasant” lives, much to the chagrin of the town’s conservative elders, in Gary Ross’s thoroughly entertaining, relatively thoughtful, and visually arresting allegorical tale, which runs out of steam towards the end when everything gets tidied up that little bit too neatly. Iain.Stott