Movie Review Monday

Movie Review Monday is a new thing I am going to try. Every Monday I am going to do a review of either a vintage era film or a film set in a retro era! Today I chose the film Pleasantville...mostly because I just re-watched it and it is in my brain at the moment. So here it goes:

Pleasantville is a 1998 comedy parody of 1950's-1960's television sitcoms. Two modern (read 90's) kids find themselves through the magic of Don Knotts (The Andy Griffith Show) inside the perfectly pristine show Pleasantville. The two are horrified to find that they have replaced the title family's two kids, Bud and Mary Sue. Picture classics such as Leave It To Beaver and I Love Lucy with their poodle skirts, after school special messages, and black and white color scheme and you have a good idea of the look and feel of the world these kids have been sucked into. However, the longer they inhabit a world which is not real the more they end up changing it...soon enough bright colors and "inappropriate behavior" abound. I won't spoil it if you haven't seen it; it really is a fun film. Seriously, go watch it now!

So, let's get into some pictures:

Our quintessential 90's teens, David and Jennifer (played by Tobey McGuire and Reese Witherspoon) before they get pulled into "Pleasantville"

Here they are after! One of my favorite scenes is where Jennifer remarks that she had on tons of underwire, and she felt like she could poke someone's eyes out with her cone shaped bra. The silhouette from the mid to late fifties really can be jarring when compared to the smooth rounded bras we are used to seeing today.

Handsome (and YOUNG) Paul Walker is the captain of the basketball team Skip Martin.His look is pure All American prep in this film. If you think Main Line, then you are on the right track.

Bud's mom undergoes her transformation to color and is harassed by boys in the street. This scene is really tense,  she really has no escape (no spoilers, sorry) I will say I love the cut and color choices for her. This is very typical for the time period down to her gloves and hat. She is really just out shopping but she is DRESSED. We just don't do this anymore. Sweatpants are not out of order in the grocery store.

Bud (David) buys Margaret a fun pink umbrella. She had never needed one before because it had never rained in Pleasantville before.

Gary Ross the movie's Director is quoted as saying, "This movie is about the fact that personal repression gives rise to larger political oppression...That when we're afraid of certain things in ourselves or we're afraid of change, we project those fears on to other things, and a lot of very ugly social situations can develop."

Bud's mom, Betty, when she finally reveals her (pardon the pun) true colors.

The titular 1950's mother and father. William H. Macy does a great job as always.

Sweater sets, peter pan collars, curled pony tails....it is all so fun!

Mary Sue (Jennifer) decides to stay in some strange time traveling loop and attend college

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a "Certified Fresh" rating of 84%. 

To me Pleasantville is a creative look at the past that shines a light on the idea that those eras were a "simpler, better time". Truth is, it just wasn't. Pleasantville is supposed to be Utopia; but the people there soon learn what I learned from a quote on Mad Men:

Rachel Menken: Maybe. They taught us at Barnard about that word, 'utopia'. The Greeks had two meanings for it: 'eu-topos', meaning the good place, and 'u-topos' meaning the place that cannot be. 

Well, that is first one down. Do you have a favorite vintage or vintage inspired film? If so, share in the comments!

Vicki Vegas
xoxoxoxoxo