Pleasantville (1998)

Directed by Gary Ross. Starring Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, Jeff Daniels, Joan Allen, William H. Macy, J. T. Walsh, Don Knotts, Paul Walker, Marley Shelton, Jane Kaczmarek. [PG-13]

After being given a magic remote by enigmatic TV repairman Knotts, contemporary teenagers Maguire and Witherspoon find themselves transported into the world of ultra-wholesome 50s television program “Pleasantville,” where their modern sensibilities clash with the town’s cloistered, (literally) black-and-white society. After a bit of a rocky start (take note: magic remote), things settle down nicely, providing plenty of promising directions for the story to take…but writer/director Ross (who knows a thing or two about fish-out-of-water fantasy, having previously scribed Big and Dave) goes ahead and pursues nearly all of them, resulting in disjointed and sometimes shallow story arcs stuffed into the time allotted. Works best when mocking the artificiality of the virtuous environment and when honing in on the restricted sadness of the characters played by cast standouts Allen and Daniels; the clumsy allegories and satire, however, are far less successful and, ultimately, the movie just sort of peters out. The recreation of idyllic small-town 50s life and astonishing use of color, however, are still well-worth seeing no matter the script’s problematic overambition.

64/100