Pleasantville
Pleasantville is a 1998 American teen fantasy comedy-drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Gary Ross (in his directorial debut). It stars Tobey Maguire, Jeff Daniels, Joan Allen, William H. Macy, J. T. Walsh, and Reese Witherspoon, with Don Knotts, Paul Walker, Marley Shelton, and Jane Kaczmarek in supporting roles. The story centers on two siblings who wind up trapped in a 1950s TV show, set in a small Midwest town, where residents are seemingly perfect.
Plot
In 1998, while their divorced mother is out of town, high-school-aged twin siblings David and Jennifer fight over the television, breaking the remote control. A mysterious TV repairman suddenly arrives and, impressed by David's knowledge and love of Pleasantville, a black-and-white 1950s sitcom about the idyllic Parker family, gives him an unusual remote control before departing. When they use it, David and Jennifer are magically transported into the Parkers' house, in Pleasantvilles black-and-white world. Unaware of the replacements, George and Betty Parker believe David and Jennifer to be their children Bud and Mary Sue, respectively. Communicating through the Parkers' television, David tries to reason with the repairman, who is offended that they want to come home, thinking they should be lucky to live in Pleasantville.
Cast
More details
| author | Gary Ross |
|---|---|
| director | Gary Ross |
| editor | William Goldenberg |
| genre | comedy-drama fantasy |
| keywords | arrest black and white book burning books are burned break break out broadcast color colorize cry divorced mother flee id malt shop modern art nothing paint party read real world remote control rock music sibling sitcom soda fountain spring teenage boy think tv repairman |
| musicBy | Randy Newman |
| nomination | Academy Award for Best Costume Design Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score Academy Award for Best Production Design |
| producer | Gary Ross Jon Kilik Robert J. Degus Steven Soderbergh |
| productionCompany | Larger Than Life Productions |
| publisher | New Line Cinema |
| recordedAt | Malibu |
| theme | magic realism satirical |