Review of Pleasantville (1998) by Huseyn B — 18 Oct 2012

The faith that "Pleasantville" perpetually invests in its own narrative and existential righteousness becomes not only exhausting but misplaced as it descends into singleminded rebellion and cheap social potshots. In those moments, it resembles a childish tantrum more than it does a meditative contemplation, and forgets that the uniformity it labours to overthrow is never an origin but a recurring phase in the endless cycle of the death and rebirth of civilizations.

However, insofar as "Pleasantville" is arresting (and it is often so), it serves as weighty dissection of the communal psyche and the human predestination for both truth and folly, fear and courage, rebellion and complacency. In its most memorable moments, it acts as a subtle but beautiful re-mystification of human life, which is so often demystified by the inevitable monotony inherent to stability. Often eloquent, consistently thoughtful, and in a few precious moments, prophetic, Pleasantville, despite the rather significant cracks in its own perfection (oh, the irony), demonstrates an understanding of art and inhabits that mystical realm with deserving.