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Pleasantville - DVD
Writer: Gary RossDirector: Gary Ross Producer: Gary Ross, Jon Kilik, Robert J. Degus & Steven Soderbergh Studio: New Line Cinema Characters: David - Tobey Maguire Johnson - Jeff Daniels Betty - Joan Allen George - William H. Macy Big Bob - J.T. Walsh TV Repairman - don Knotts Margaret - Marley Shelton David's Mom - Jane Kaczmarek Jennifer - Reese Witherspoon Review: Pleasantville is a strange little fairy tale of a movie. I first saw this film on the big screen, and knew right after watching it that I would buy it. It has a unique story line, some incredibly touching performances, brilliant visuals and a great concept which can literally only be told in film. Pleasantville tells the story of two teenagers who are inadvertantly sucked into an old television series (Pleasantville). Reese Witherspoon plays Jennifer, a spoiled high school slut, while Tobey MacGuire plays her social outcast of a brother, David. They become black and white, and are stuck in this "perfect" world of the fifties. As Jennifer and David make their way through Pleasantville, they start to influence the cardboard cutout characters around them. As these characters awaken, and become self-aware, they turn into color. The film's mix of black and white and color in the same frame is incredibly unsettling, and does a great job of conveying the film's messages in a visual manner. There's a scene involving a burning tree which is amazing and in one simple two or three second segment shows the whole range of this film. The shot starts out with the black and white night scene, with the tree burning a brilliant orange flame. The camera pans away as a fire truck pulls up, with the tree moving out of the frame, then pans back to show us the tree again. My one complaint about the film would be that it tends to get a bit heavy handed at points. I suspect that shooting in color, then "highlighting" certain aspects by mixing color and black and white would confuse matters when writing. It makes for a great way to show something, but when themes are so apparent visually, it's not necessary to express everything so literally. I won't reveal anymore of the plot, but will say the film also contains some incredible (and sadly, overlooked) performances by William H. Macey, Joan Allen and Jeff Daniels. It also marks the final film of the late J.T. Walsh (who delivers the soon-to-be-classic line, "We're safe for now. Thank goodness we're in a bowling alley."). The DVD is from New-Line, and contains their usual array of stunning extra features and bonus materials along with a digital to digital transfer of the film (no, A Bug's Life was not the first...just the first to have NO film in the process anywhere). The DVD contains the film (of course), a director's commentary from writer/director Gary Ross (his first directorial effort, his previous writing efforts include Big and Dave), plus featurettes explaining the film process used, and a bizarre little "train of thought" video segment from the guy who painted the mural in the film. Pleasantville is absolutely worth a rental, and if you're into film production, a purchase. Ken Pierce Dvdken@home.com Contributing Editor, www.dvdfuture.com |
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