ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Matho The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

capone666 PleasantvilleThe worst part about being a 1950s housewife was making your bed. Then making your husbands.Mind you, the post-war married couple in this dramedy would enjoy having separate bunks.During a TV marathon of the black-and-white sitcom Pleasantville, high school loser David (Tobey Maguire) and his much cooler twin sister Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) are magically transported from the free-spirited 1990s to the uptight 1950s.As the siblings navigate their black-and-white surroundings their liberated attitude affects everyone in town, including their sexually repressed parents (Joan Allen, William H. Macy). But as coitus turns townsfolk Technicolor, it begets segregation.A humorous yet powerful allegory on race relations and sexual orientation, this underrated box-office flop from 1998 manages to deliver an array of impactful social messages without getting lost in the science or absurdity of its high concept premise. Incidentally, living inside of a 1950s TV set would give you radiation poisoning. Yellow Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

thejcowboy22 One night I had a very unusual dream. I was coming home from my Parochial school on a cloudy afternoon. My bus driver took a different route home and I kept my mouth shut figuring he knew a better way, short cut so to speak. Low and behold we pull up to the House of Samantha Stephens of the popular TV show Bewitched. My Bus driver yelled at me to get off the bus, "This is your house." I'm not one to argue so I stepped off and walked up the driveway with my briefcase in hand and rang the bell. The front door opens and a I get a warm friendly greeting from Samantha as I'm pleasantly in shock but I respond by saying, "Your Elizabeth Montgomery Right?" Samantha with a dumbfounded looks says, "I don't know any Elizabeth whoever but come in and let me take your briefcase." She knew my name but my last name was Stephens? I see Tabatha in the background but alas I had woken into my hum drum world. Reality hit me like a hammer on my thumb. We always feel like the grass is always greener on the other side instead of taking stock in what we have or what we haven't seen on the other side. Pleasantville at the source of this narrative is the perfect Utopia, Garden of Eden,perfect town with perfect people. Tobey Mcquire plays Pleasantville aficionado David who is categorized as a nerd in his high school. Not by any means one of the popular kids in school. Yet David is looking forward to the fictional TV program Pleasantville to air a marathon of episodes starting at 6:30 that evening. Enter popular Blonde,wild,close in age Sister Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon).The two siblings fight over the TV remote which breaks. Our third player is a crusty old TV repair man (Don Knotts) with a most unusual clicker in his possession. One thing leads to another and the two are zapped into the black and white fifties world of Pleasantville. Director Gary Ross goes to tremendous expense to show how a stagnate world can't exist.Ross holds the utopia ideology up for ridicule as the movie wears on. The regulars in this show Joan Allen and husband Bill Macy handle change and awakening in totally different ways. Allen embraces the idea but the husband wants everything status quo. The Hamburger flipping Mr. Johnson played by Jeff Daniels wonders if it's ethical to put cheese on hamburgers and his secret love of art is discovered which give his life more meaning. Each individual gets colorized as an Epiphany occurs within themselves. Discovering one's sexuality seem to change the masses but in Jennifer's case it was the thirst for knowledge and books that changed her. The gradual colorization represented the struggles of racism in that supposed Garden of Eden. As perfect as the Tobey Mcquire was in the fictitious town it was time to come home to present day life. One of the last scenes in the movie is the conversation between David and his real Mom in which she wondered how her life is so screwed up.David's Mom goes on how at one time her life was perfect but David who has lived both sides in and out of the TV box states, "There is no Right House. There is no right car!" To quote a fellow critic Mr. J. Dukes," Sometimes the part of ourselves are the ones we leave unexplored." Great thought provoking movie.

TheGDfather Well we like to think the 50's was a great time. I mean most people people weren't alive then so all they have to go off is stories post world war 2 about how the soldiers came back and housing got better, and every one moved out to the suburbs. But seriously, it wasn't like that for everyone. I'm sure you hear the stories about women who waited, and how you "court" a girl and how guys opened car doors for women and all kind of things. It never stops.One thing I liked about this movie mostly was reese witherspoons character. We got a short glimpse of her in Hollywood and frankly I was impressed with it. I'm not talking about that country movie she did where everybody loved her in it. Or legally blonde where it was borderline an insult to my intelligence. This was the kind of role she was meant to play. A mean sister who pretty much said what she wanted and did what she wanted (and who she wanted in this movie).We also get a glimpse of Paul walker. Probably before the fast and furious days. He plays a great part. Very shy and fits right in this movie. I can't really say enough about Toby McGuire. Before spider man he played this part to death. I mean who else would have sold the "fire" seen where he eventually has to yell cat better. He just gives you that vibe as a kid that you feel he knows hes smart and he has confidence to wait till people appreciate him. And he doesn't need to prove anything to anybody. Another great actor.Also another about this movie is ITS ORIGINAL. How many times do I have to say that in this year 2017 movies are not original. I've seen tons of spider mans (sorry toby), tons of batmans, and even tons of iron mans. Which all those were good. But a story about a brother and sister who get stuck in the 50's and change colors? I can barely describe this to friends without it seeming out and them trying to tell my I might need a physc evaluation if I bring it up again.One more thing about this movie, it was funny. Scene after scene after scene. How many movies had so many sexual references in it and made you laugh as well? Not many. The part about the girls tongue was color? That was extremely hilarious. And the director didn't have to get vivid with it, you either got it or you didn't. How could you not forget where the daughter talks to the mother about touching herself and then she does it and the tree catches on fire? Didn't see that coming. Every part is quite hilarious but they still have a plot and meaning.And the end of the day nothing is like it seems. Its not pleasantville. Where you live at is not that great where you can control everything around you and you are perfect. I have to show this to a lot of people now in this generation so they can get the joke when I say "i live in pleasantville" The movie did a great job with the characters and explaining the 50's weren't even the 50's so who are you guys fooling. Whats ironic about it is was watching a crime show the other day and the town was in pleasantville and I immediately thought of this movie.

Hitchcoc I enjoyed the creativity of this film. It gives us a look at what a shallow view of the world the "Good Old Days" is. There were no good old days. They were good days for people whose lives were financially stable or who did not face prejudice or benefited from being viewed correctly by the populace. When the kids pass into Pleasantville, they come upon a TV world of 50's and 60's sitcoms where everything is vanilla (actually black and white). As the kids begin to sow their oats and the fabrics of this fantasy world begins to buckle, people who rebel or move against the status quo start to become brightly colored. When teen sex and other acts of rebellion begin to be embraced, there is more color. This is a provocative film. What I take issue with is something like a religion taking over a society to show it what is right. While those in the religious group think that what they are doing to other is correct, who are they to know? Some of the things that are taken in by the people of Pleasantville could be seen as anathema to their world and instead of an improvement, they may be destructive. However, this is not the total message because once back in the "real" contemporary world, there is still pain and sadness from the very issues that were foisted on the imaginary town.