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Pleasantville

Pleasantville

Fantasy · Comedy · Drama · 1998

Geeky teenager David and his popular twin sister, Jennifer, get sucked into the black-and-white world of a 1950s TV sitcom called "Pleasantville," and find a world where everything is peachy keen all the time. But when Jennifer's modern attitude disrupts Pleasantville's peaceful but boring routine, she literally brings color into its life.

Movie details

Pleasantville

“Nothing is as simple as black and white.”

1998 Fantasy · Comedy · Drama 2h 4m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.3 / 10

Community rating

Geeky teenager David and his popular twin sister, Jennifer, get sucked into the black-and-white world of a 1950s TV sitcom called "Pleasantville," and find a world where everything is peachy keen all the time. But when Jennifer's modern attitude disrupts Pleasantville's peaceful but boring routine, she literally brings color into its life.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Pleasantville?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Gary Ross

Written by

Gary Ross

Tobey Maguire

Tobey Maguire

David

Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon

Jennifer

William H. Macy

William H. Macy

George Parker

Joan Allen

Joan Allen

Betty Parker

Jeff Daniels

Jeff Daniels

Mr. Johnson

J.T. Walsh

J.T. Walsh

Big Bob

Paul Walker

Paul Walker

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Court is in session

Put Pleasantville on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.