Pleasantville - 7

"We're safe for now, thank God we're in a bowling alley." - Big Bob
This film is both entertaining and thoughtful. There are quite a few funny lines, like the one above. But the deeper themes of worldview are also prominent in the story. The story involves siblings David and Jennifer being transported through their television into a classic black-and-white show called Pleasantville. As they step out of the characters of Bud and Peggy Sue, they start to change the town, and people start seeing in color and the people start to realize that the world is more than just the predictable parts; that change is possible. It plays on the idea of the political polarization of liberals and conservatives. It does a good job of promoting outside-the-box thinking, while being a little harsh on the idea of tradition as valuable. It is also interesting how Jen stays behind, while David realizes the value of returning home. The ending also plays on the audiences assumptions that the show is not fictional. In other words, since most of the film takes place in Pleasantville, which is fictional, we forget about the reality outside of the show. As was pointed out to me, there is also an interesting allusion to Adam and Eve, when David and Mary are in a garden and she picks an apple and gives it to David to eat (she is in color, he is still in black and white). My one frustration with the film is that it doesn't really explain how the transformation happens. At first it is sexual liberation, then later is emotional and intellectual. This is probably playing into the idea that everyone is unique and has there own way to be free. I think this is faulty logic: communication requires some degree of similarity to function (to use one example). I originally rated this a 6, but am giving an extra point for being both the entertaining and thoughtful, and doing both cleverly.