Pleasantville (DVD) Reviews

Toby Maguire and Reese Witherspoon star here as teenage siblings David and Jennifer in 90s America. She is cool, he really isn't. On an evening when Witherspoon finally gets a date with her dream guy there is also a marathon showing of Pleasantville, a black and white soap/sit-com about an idyllic small town somewhere in the American Midwest. In ...  Read the complete review

This is one of those film that you can enjoy and watch a number of times. Written and directed by the fantastic gary ross, responsible for Dave and big this film follows tobey maguire and reese witherspoon as they are transported and trapped in a 1950's tv show. The film starts of in colour and once transported they are in a black and white land ...  Read the complete review

David (Tobey Maguire) and Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) are not alike at all, even though they are brother and sister. David is a nerd and Jennifer is one of the coolest kids in school. David loves watching the old black and white TV show 'Pleasantville' and Jennifer likes watching MTV. One day, Jennifer and David get sucked into ...  Read the complete review

I had watched this film quite a few years ago but couldn't really remember much about it so when I settled down to watch it today it was like watching it from new and also quite surprising. I had a vague recollection of a quiet gentle film where not much happened but although this might appear to be so on the surface, this is not what this film is ...  Read the complete review

Pleasantville U.S.A, the typical image of 1950's Middle America, where polite inhabitants wander around the perfectly kept streets busying themselves with everyday chores never wondering about the big world outside of their small village, never experiencing emotion or seeing true colour. 1990's Middle America, an urban jungle ruled by MTV and huge ...  Read the complete review

David (Tobey Maguire) is a huge fan of the old 50's sitcom Pleasantville which follows the fictional lives of the perfect Parker family and the town they live in, so when he discovers that there will be a 24 hr marathon of his prized tv show he sets himself up infront of the tv to watch hours of family bliss. However his sister Jennifer (Reese ...  Read the complete review

This film is a real modern fairy tale, there is a sense of magic about the plot and the way it is made. Siblings (played by Reese Witherspoon and Tobey Maguire) get sucked into a black and white T.V show about a perfect family in a perfect town (Pleasantville). They find that they are now black and white and the children of a perfect ...  Read the complete review

Imagine a world where nothing really bad happened. Wouldn’t it be great? But what if nothing really good happened either? Pleasantville is the story of such a place, set in a 1950’s television programme where no one dies, it never rains and the only thing the firemen ever do is rescue cats! Bud (Toby Mcguire) is a teenage ...  Read the complete review

Like the characters in a reverse Wizard of Oz, American teens David and Jenifer find themselves teleported from their complicated colourful, modern existence into a safe, regulated, monochrome one. That's the beguiling premise of Pleasantville, the assured directorial debut from noted screenwriter Gary Ross. Don't ask how they get ...  Read the complete review

As a student of media, I can appreciate this film not only for it's intricate plot, but for it's ideology (issues tackled) and it's fantastic use of colour and effects. The opening few scenes did put me off a bit, I thought 'oh no not another teen flick' but from the moment the mysterious TV repair man appears it jumps ...  Read the complete review

This one I saw on a flight to New York a couple of years ago and its not the sort of film I would rent.Its never easy following a movie on a plane with those headphones in the plastic bags. Its beautifully filmed with a striking visual design and fantastic sets that don’t let you look away even though the film itself is slower than ...  Read the complete review

A world where there has never been any rain. Never been any hatred. Never been any tears or aggression, is about to change. I remember watching this when i was in America and was truly intrigued by the powerful storyline, hidden amongst the scenes of comedy. Two teenagers enter the television show, ...  Read the complete review

This film is all about David (Tobey Maguire) and his sister Jennifer (Reece Witherspoon). They are from a broken home and are two totally different characters. David is an intelligent, unassuming and totally addicted to an old 50’s television show, Pleasantville. Jennifer, on the other hand, is the wild child of the family. She is part ...  Read the complete review

This film tells the story of David (Tobey Maguire) and his sister Jennifer (Reece Witherspoon). They are children of a broken home and are two completely different characters. David is a quiet, unassuming soul who is an avid watcher of a 50’s television show called Pleasantville, in fact he is an expert on the subject. Jennifer, on the ...  Read the complete review

This is one of those films that really makes me feel good about the movies. It concerns two teenagers who get sucked from their 1990s world into a television show which was made in the 1950s. They bring 1990s sensibilities to a world which isn't ready for them. The special effects are excellent, with the 1950s sequences being filmed in ...  Read the complete review

Well,it's certainly different.I was expecting probably more than the film delivered, and felt slightly cheated. The film lost it's way halfway through, and I felt that more could be made of the situation the people in the town were in. They were all grey, and went about their business in the old predictable way they had always done. No ...  Read the complete review

This film is about a couple of teenagers who are pulled into their TV by a super duper remote, given to them by a conveniently passing TV repairman. They're pulled into Pleasantville, which is one of those kitsch 50s shows, shown on a classic TV channel, and in black and White. But pretty soon, they're breaking out of their ...  Read the complete review

This film sounded like such a good idea, but I'm afraid it didn't really impress me very much. Two teenagers get sucked into a cheesy 1950s black and white tv series, and have to try and work out how to get 'home' Sure, there are some funny moments, and some touching scenes, but the whole thing doesn't ever really ...  Read the complete review

Did you like the Truman Show? If so you will probably like Pleasantville or at least be familiar with the ‘feel’ of the film, in fact I think you’ll recognise a large chunk of the soundtrack. The plot is simple. Two hip(ish) mineties teenagers find themselves living in a 50’s soap where all the characters are black ...  Read the complete review

This is a witty and original piece of Hollywood fluff, for the first half hour. Twins David and Jennifer are transported to Pleasantville, a black and white television show in the wholesome American tradition. Its a nice twist and the contrast between nineties streetwise and fifties innocence makes for some witty one liners, but then the film gets ...  Read the complete review