Pleasantville
DOWN &
DIRTY:
Drama: A present day brother and
sister find their worlds turned
upside down when they're
mysteriously transported into the
sterile, but always cheerful
world of a black and white,
1950's TV sitcom.
NITTY GRITTY:
David (TOBEY MAGUIRE) and his
sister, Jennifer (REESE
WITHERSPOON), live with their
divorced mother in a typical
suburban home. While Jennifer is
known for her promiscuity, David
retreats home where he enjoys
watching a vintage 1950's TV
sitcom,
"Pleasantville," where
life is always perfect and happy.
Having seen the show so often
that he's become something of a
trivia expert on it, David is
awaiting a marathon showing of
that program's episodes. With
their mother gone for the
weekend, Jennifer is hoping to
have her new boyfriend over to
watch the latest concert on MTV.
Before he arrives, David and
Jennifer get into a wrestling
match and end up breaking the TV
remote.
An old TV repairman (DON KNOTTS)
suddenly shows up with a
newfangled remote that he urges
them to use. When they do,
they're transported into the TV
and onto the
"Pleasantville" show
where, they find that they've
assumed the roles of Bud and Mary
Sue, children of the show's ever
cheerful and complacent parents,
George (WILLIAM H. MACY) and
Betty Parker (JOAN ALLEN).
In Pleasantville, it never rains
, there are no toilets, the
firemen have never seen a fire
and the books are filled with
blank pages.
Knowing the place inside/out,
David couldn't be happier.
Jennifer doesn't feel the same
way until she meets Skip (PAUL
WALKER), the high school
basketball star who wants to go
steady with her. She's ready for
more than that and after helping
him lose his virginity, things
begin to change around
Pleasantville.
Not only do the basketball
players start missing their shots
and rock n' roll music starts
playing on the jukebox, but color
starts to infiltrate the show's
normally black and white TV
world.
People start to change as well.
Mr. Johnson (JEFF DANIELS), the
owner of the local malt shop
where David/Bud works, comes to
life when David suddenly breaks
their everyday routine. He takes
up painting, while David's TV
mother, Betty, begins to desire a
change from her everyday
homemaker life.
This doesn't sit well with
George, who doesn't understand
what's happening, or Big Bob
(J.T. WALSH), Pleasantville's
mayor, who decides something
should be done to return things
to normal.
It seems, that it's too late as
more people start becoming
"colored," and soon the
town is split into those who
accept and want the colorful
changes, and those who favor a
return to the status quo.
As everything comes to a head in
the once peaceful town, David and
Jennifer realize that they're
changing for the better as well.
THE ENDING:
There is a town meeting and David
forces Big Bob into showing his
true 'colors'. Now the town is
fully colored. David uses the
'special' TV remote to return to
present day, but Jennifer decides
to stay in Pleasantville.
WHAT EVERYONE WILL BE
TALKING ABOUT:
Once again, the Special
Effects, but here they support
the story, not intrude upon it.
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