Film Review: Pleasantville

More Then Just Pleasant

During the late nineties and into the early noughties a new wave of films hit the big screen focusing on the exploration of a new theme in particular, namely that of the glorification of imperfect perfection and it's belief that the twee, suburban vision of the American Dream was in fact one which was flawed and engulfed in it’s own perfect tedium. Of these, Sam Mendes' 1999 Oscar winning epic American Beauty is quite rightly held as the benchmark of the genre, and whilst I hold all the praise in the world for Mendes' film and consider it one of my personal favourite films my belief is that a film made just 12 months before manages to capture that same agenda and ideology of American Beauty, arguably doing so in much more visually pleasing and technically impressive manner then Mendes' outing, but has in recent years seen itself become criminally overlooked and deserves to be rediscovered for a new audience; the film in question of course being this wonderful debut film from the mind of Gary Ross, 1998's Pleasantville.

Pleasantville opens in 1998, where we see couch potato David (Tobey Maguire) enjoying the thrills of the homely fifties television sitcom Pleasantville, presented to us as a Father Knows Best type environment where everything is safe, wholesome and downright pleasant, following a visit from a rather creepy TV repairman (Don Briggs), David and his outgoing sister Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) squabble over their new TV remote, and before you can say "I saw that one coming a mile off" both are transformed into Pleasantville itself, taking the role of the show's brother and sister, Bud and Mary-Sue, respectively. Whilst David makes a conceited attempt to continue to uphold the values of Pleasantville and maintain the integrity of the show he loves, Jennifer is soon driven to the brink by the overt niceness of her environment, and begins creating ripples that cause the town to experience significant changes as those who embrace new experiences and new behaviours find their lives injected with vivid technicolour whilst those who refuse to change remain in black and white, in particular causing friction between the rigid and straight-mannered George (William H. Macy) and his repressed and frustrated wife Betty (Joan Allen).

Pleasantville not only deals with the issues of imperfect perfection mentioned previously but also manages to prove itself an engaging social commentary as a televisual satire of fifties sitcoms such as Leave It To Beaver, a coming-of-age tale of morality and loss of innocence as well as a critique of themes including prejudice and social ostracisation. The film also acts as a social commentary on the way that we as viewers interpret nostalgia within our media industry, in the same way as David did at the start of the film we look back at the past as  a time which has been painted as one of innocence and perfection, when in fact the film on the whole is used to highlight the drawbacks of the 1950’s and the need for social progression, making a particular beeline for the issues of sexism and the general disregard for women’s liberation, stubbornness and denial over the need for evolution in society and most prominently by the end of the film racism. If there is a key issue which I have with this film it is the way in which these themes are painted within the film, Ross has never been one to be subtle with his work and indeed he takes to smashing his themes and motives into the minds of the viewer with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, to the extent of borrowing straight from the film To Kill A Mockingbird in the film’s courtroom climax, and indeed it’s incredibly liberal agenda to lead to it picking up a lot of detractors from the right wing upon it’s original release. Personally I can see why they may appear grating to some viewers but to me it helps demonstrate a lot of the qualities of Ross as a film-maker, even though he has to deal with a number of heavy political issues throughout the film on the whole he manage to juggle all of them with a surprising ease and manages to avoid the film becoming too dragged down by the issues it is facing. Remarkably baring in mind the political agenda of this film and the at times touchy subject matter Pleasantville also manages to be incredibly entertaining, most of it’s comedy admittedly fuelled through it’s satire of the 1950’s television comedy but still very humorous and clever in it’s approach. This mix of light-hearted and arguably innocent comedy combined with a heartfelt and overt agenda however is nothing new to Ross however, having served as the writer of 1988’s Big.

 Added to the ethical issues which Pleasantville deals with brilliantly it is also a fantastic joy to watch visually, it's visual effects and use of colour proving both original and striking, and was in 1998 very much ahead of it’s time technically, whilst incorporating it’s technical merits as part of it’s plot dynamic was in my eyes a touch which made the intended storyline behind the film all the more powerful as a viewer. The casting of the film also helps to aid it's cause by a strong cast which whilst understated manage to bring out some emotive and strong performances, Ross was very clever to chose a selection of character actors in his choices rather then someone arguably more ham-fisted who may have caused the film to become too pretentious for it’s own good. The standout performance in particular for me being Jeff Daniels as Mr Johnson, arguably the character who experiences the largest changes and the most emotional drive in the film, a largely robotic figure of the initial stages of the show, driven on routine before being allowed to demonstrate a full expressive and passionate self whilst the ever enjoyable William H. Macy proves a great comedic foil as the out of touch and old fashioned George, this is topped off by a strong anchoring role by Tobey Maguire and a great breakthrough performance by a young Reese Witherspoon.

Pleasantville doesn't do subtlety in the same way that American Beauty might, something which is certainly it’s major deterrent as a film, but it certainly doesn't deserve to be overlooked in the way that it has either. This is a wonderful piece of social commentary and arguably should be held as one of the most underrated movies of the 1990's.