Tuesday Cap - Vol. 23

Title: Pleasantville

Notes: I watched Pleasantville for the first time early last year, and was immediately glued to the screen. Two days later I bought the DVD. Written and directed by Gary Ross, the movie follows Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon as they're transported to Tobey's ideal family environment: 1950s television, where everything is nice, perfect, and full of "gee golly!"'s. While Maguire gets into his element, Witherspoon isn't a fan, and brings her worldly experiences into this black & white town. As the film progresses, color is introduced into Pleasantville - and this being something strange and foreign, those who begin to colorize are ostracized by the community - brought on by individual desires, accomplishments, emotions, etc. There are few times where I feel like hitting the air in a 'Boo ya!' type of way, but when Maguire stands up for his 'mother' and experiences growth of character, it's a damn awesome moment. Pleasantville means quite a few things, and will undoubtedly leave an impression on the viewer - whether it be, 'gee, really Burt, we gotta sit through 'tis thang? So been deir done dat' or 'Oh, blimey, that was rather clever'. Either way, watch the flick if you haven't, it's quite good.

Discuss: General thoughts on Gary Ross' Pleasantville. Themes, performances, cinematography, editing - have at it.