It's spreading. It's contagious. It's color!

In the town of Pleasantville, nothing changes. The temperature is always the same, the weather is always nice, and no one has ever seen rain. Sex is an unknown word, passion is obsolete, and the most intimacy anyone sees is a touch to the hand. There are no words in books, the high school basketball team never misses a shot, and there is nothing beyond the town. In Pleasantville, things are always pleasant.

But when David and Jennifer Wagner infiltrate the town, things change. The power of a mysterious remote given to them by a mysterious TV repairman sends these two teenagers from the 1990s into the 1950s town of Pleasantville. David is an avid fan of the television show "Pleasantville" and he immediately realizes that he and his sister have replaced two of the main characters, Bud and Mary Sue. And the only way they can get out is if they complete the episode as planned. Things won't be so simple.

Jennifer is a sexually active with a less than positive view on the black and white and predictable lifestyle in which the townspeople are living. It doesn't take her long to start invoking her own style on Pleasantville, including language, lifestyle, and sex.

Suddenly, things are changing. The basketball team can't make shots, storms are brewing in the sky, fires are beginning to burn, and things are becoming colorful.

Now, as objects and people begin to change, including their actions and emotions, the reality of their lifestyle is about to be revealed. Pleasantville is starting to become a lot less pleasant as some of the older citizens take to the streets, frightened of what they might become.

MOVIE REVIEW

You may look at shows like "Leave it to Beaver" or "The Partridge Family" and note how incredibly artificial they look. You may point out the sheer "perfectness" of it all and laugh at how pathetic it all seems. Pleasantville does just this, but on the big screen. It makes fun of about every aspect you can think of, joined by a strong cast and rich integration of black and white and color.
Read our Pleasantville movie review »