Pleasantville is a movie that shows the changes that happened in society over the past fifty years. It shows the world of the 1950s and how today’s standards can’t go back to it.
David, played by Tobey Maguire, is an enthusiastic high school student with a typically diminishing family and no female friends, but he passes his time watching a TV show, Pleasantville. While watching the show, he gets into a fight with Jennifer, played by Reese Witherspoon, his sister. The fight got so intense that they both broke the remote.
The TV repairman, played by Don Knotts, comes to fix the remote, but he gives them a magical remote which sends them both into the show.
They both converted into George, played by William H. Macy, and Betty Parker, played by Joan Allen’s kids Mary and Bud Sue. Mary is not happy until she meets Skip Martin, played by Paul Walker, her boyfriend.
Bud is working at Bill Johnson’s soda shop, played by Jeff Daniels. He also falls for Margaret Henderson, played by Marley Shelton. The kids’ interactions and reactions start to change the purity of Pleasantville’s world, and slowly, colors begin to sleep in their world.
Where was the movie filmed?
For the most part, the movie was shot in California, and it has many locations that are not real and don’t exist in reality. The set was made just for the movie. Some of those locations were modern, but the overall vibe of the movie was set in the 1950s.
Other than the buildings, some of the scenes were filmed inside two high schools in LA. Other than the first few scenes, many of them were filmed in the school gyms.
They helped set the vibe of the movie and made it easy for the audience to relate to these movies.
Another location where the movie was shot was a bowling alley situated on Honolulu Avenue in Montrose, CA.
Each scene utilizes cinematic techniques such as camera shots, mise-en-scene, costumes, music, and colors to represent the whole plot and rhythm of the movie. The actors also made the whole movie balanced with their good onscreen acting.
The ideas in the movie are great; it show how different concepts can bind together and change the town of Pleasantville.
It may feel like a gimmick in the beginning, but it has a cute screenplay. Additionally, Don Knotts elevates the whole laugh. The core characters of Witherspoon and Maguire also have funny scenes in Pleasantville.
Then, slowly, the movie starts to show deeper meanings, with slow feelings and more delivery, which is all undeniable.
The role of Witherspoon is strong. At that time, she was seen as an overrated actress. She made Jenny her own life and character and portrayed it so well.
The thought of kids getting sucked by a TV story is simple, but here the execution in the movie is genius.
How does the movie fair today?
A movie can become outdated pretty quickly for many reasons in today’s age. As the name of the title, everything in the movie is pleasant. There is no profanity, sex, art, or any exotic locations outside Pleasantville because it was not needed.
But Jen starts rocking with Skip, and this is the first disruption for the town. This was enough to break the themes of the ideal town. On the other hand, David is gathering headlines without him knowing.
He explains to a local shop owner that the routine of a daily show doesn’t have to be the same. This was not liked by Mr Johnson, who thinks of himself as an artist. This creates a rift, and things get more energy when Mr. Johnson puts a nude portrait of a lady on his store window.
Of course, these are funny instances, and many other things happen as the two leads take control. To answer the question, yes, it is still a good and fun movie to watch. Everything feels organic on screen, which is obvious in the scenes.
