Critic Reviews
Pleasantville (1998) Rank 3 Reviews
Expert Review Summary
based on (208) reviews
Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating
Reviews by Score:
Wolfpack Productions (Sujit 'Chief' Chawla)
San Francisco Chronicle (Edward Guthmann)
San Francisco Examiner (Walter Addiego)
San Francisco Chronicle (Edward Guthmann)
SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review
Jam! Movies (Bruce Kirkland)
Hollywood satire is not usually this enjoyable: Both savage and silly, Pleasantville is an absolute blast. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Jam! Movies (Bruce Kirkland)
Netflix (James Rocchi)
Washington Post (Michael O'Sullivan)
So ambitious, so clever and so satisfying in so many ways! ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Washington Post (Michael O'Sullivan)
Film Threat (Merle Bertrand)
This is an exquisite, timely film. It's nice to know that occasionally, even Hollywood does something right. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Film Threat (Merle Bertrand)
A Guide to Current DVD (Aaron Beierle)
Netflix (James Rocchi)
New York Times (Janet Maslin)
Much of the interest here is in watching how the black-and-white scenes (filmed on color stock) begin to flower. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at New York Times (Janet Maslin)
Film Threat (Ron Wells)
Ross has come up with one of the best, most subversive, and definitely one of the most memorable films of the year. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Film Threat (Ron Wells)
Film Values/Family Values (H. Arthur Taussig)
New York Times (Janet Maslin)
Much of the interest here is in watching how the black-and-white scenes (filmed on color stock) begin to flower. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at New York Times (Janet Maslin)
The Onion (A.V. Club) (Keith Phipps)
To concentrate on the minor faults of a fable as beautiful and unusual as Pleasantville would be missing the point. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at The Onion (A.V. Club) (Keith Phipps)
Washington Post (Michael O'Sullivan)
I can't get over the nagging feeling that Pleasantville's beguiling spell was cast by a real magician, only to be carelessly broken by the same clumsy charlatan. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Washington Post (Michael O'Sullivan)
DVDTown.com (John J. Puccio)
It’s better that the filmmakers tried to do something different than make yet another pointless, witless, sterile comedy. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at DVDTown.com (John J. Puccio)
A Guide To Current Film Movie Review
The Common Guy (Paul Hall)
Pleasantville:Special Edition DVD: A Review
Montreal Film Journal (Kevin N. Laforest)
DVD Authority.com ("Fusion3600")
CinemaScreen (James Salter)
Cinemaphile.org (David Keyes)
dvdfuture.com (Ken Pierce)
DVDTown (John J. Puccio)
Teen Movie Critic (Vivian Rose)
Criminy Pete's Knee Jerk Spoilers
San Francisco Examiner (Walter Addiego)
While amusing and sometimes touching, Pleasantville is far from challenging. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at San Francisco Examiner (Walter Addiego)
Nicholas Kleszczewski
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (Rick Groen)
Delightful as it often is, the picture suffers fom the same structural and thematic tidiness, even smugness, that it nominally opposes. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (Rick Groen)
The Digital Bits
Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)
Ross's comedy isn't as inventive as "The Truman Show," which it resembles in some ways, but it explores interesting ideas with nimble humor. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)
Palo Alto Weekly (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)
The movie has less biting originality than The Truman Show , but it proves that director Ross retains screenwriter Ross's flair for exploring real-life issues through divertingly far-fetched plots. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)
Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
A movie of unique ideological derangement that simultaneously demands and defies precise decoding. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
Detroit News (Susan Stark)
Filmtracks (Christian Clemmensen)
Minneapolis Star Tribune (Jeff Strickler)
The lighthearted fable Pleasantville takes some pointed swipes at the make-believe world of 1950s TV -- and none too soon. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Minneapolis Star Tribune (Jeff Strickler)
Home Theater Info (Doug MacLean)
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Philip Martin)
Someday, maybe someday soon, someone in Hollywood is going to make a genuinely great movie about television as a metaphor for America. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Philip Martin)
Boulder Weekly (Thomas Delapa)
Though Ross works in some heavy-handed strokes, his portrait of stodgy Eisenhower America dazzles with some of the loveliest imagery of any 1990s film. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Boulder Weekly (Thomas Delapa)
Cinema in Focus (Denny Wayman and Hal Conklin)
Globe and Mail (Rick Groen)
Endearing it definitely is, so much so that it's easy to overlook the simplicity, and the sly confidence trick that gets played on us. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Globe and Mail (Rick Groen)
Andrew Hicks (Andrew Hicks)
UTK Daily Beacon (Emily Broyles)
Film Blather (Eugene Novikov)
DVD Town (John J. Puccio)
AmateurHomeTheater.com
THE WEEKLY MOVIE REVIEW
Light Views, Reviews & Previews (John Larsen)
Movies 101 (Robert Glatzer)
Poor Joan Allen seems to be typecast in her acting career these days as an unhappy housewife. She was the long-suffering Pat Nixon in Oliver Stone's film "Nixon." She was another one in Ang Lee's "The Ice Storm," and now in Gary Ross's new film ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Movies 101 (Robert Glatzer)
Dr. Daniel's Movie Emergency
Christian Spotlight on the Movies
Juicy Cerebellum (Alex Sandell)
culturevulture.net, Choices for the Cognoscenti
At-A-Glance Film Reviews
Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents
IndependentCritics.com (Richard Propes)
In Film Australia
The Aisle Seat (Mike McGranaghan)
The Cranky Critic (Chuck Schwartz)
Cinema Laser (Derek M. Germano)
Chicago NewCityNet (Ray Pride)
Black Flix (Laurence Washington)
Scott Renshaw's Screening Room (Scott Renshaw)
A funny and thoughtful film! ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Scott Renshaw's Screening Room (Scott Renshaw)
Washington Post (Rita Kempley)
Lacks the edge and depth of a truly inspired work. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Washington Post (Rita Kempley)
LA Weekly (Manohla Dargis)
The results are charming if rarely thrilling, with outstanding performances from Joan Allen and William H. Macy. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at LA Weekly (Manohla Dargis)
Newsweek (Jack Kroll)
A complex, entertaining film that may have more ideas than it can handle, but certainly has real ideas. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Newsweek (Jack Kroll)
Film Freak Central (Bill Chambers)
Time (Richard Corliss)
An epic-size, largely entertaining parable of repression and awakening. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Time (Richard Corliss)
Salon (Charles Taylor)
It's tough not to respond to the visual cleverness of Pleasantville. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Salon (Charles Taylor)
Ain't It Cool Movie Reviews (Harry Knowles)
The New York Times - Family Movie Guide (Peter M. Nichols)
Sun Newspapers of Cleveland
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
txreviews.com (Curtis Edmonds)
filethirteen.com
LowComDom Online Film Reviews
Ah, the 1950's, when all was well, and everyone was white.
Pleasantville is a great metaphor of the 50's, or what television told us the 50's were. Our idealized television memory doesn't include anyone who isn't white. It's all about the God-fearing, ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at LowComDom Online Film Reviews
Expanded Cinemah
DVD Net (Paul Dossett)
Cutscene - uk review
Movie Geek Central
Jump Cut. Magazin für Film und Kritik
Philadelphia City Paper (Sam Adams)
Wolf Entertainment Guide (William Wolf)
Salon.com (Charles Taylor)
Portland Oregonian (Shawn Levy)
May not be as successful as it is ambitious, but you could do worse than to spend a few hours there. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Portland Oregonian (Shawn Levy)
Reel.com DVD review (Pam Grady)
Reeling Reviews (Robin and Laura Clifford)
Spirituality & Health (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
Movie-Page.com review
Anthony Leong's MediaCircus
MediaCircus (Anthony Leong)
Harvey's Movie Review (Harvey O'Brien)
Jill Cozzi's Virtual Urth review
Mixed Reviews: The Arts, The World, and More (Jill Cozzi)
Entertainment Insiders (Craig Roush)
BBC Films (Almar Haflidason)
Political Film Society
Pleasantville, directed and written by Gary Ross, asks how we got from the bland 1950s to the frantic 1990s and whether we should really be so nostalgic about a time with little awareness of poverty, sex scandals, and the like. The story begins with ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Political Film Society
Film Freak Central
Neurologist Oliver Sacks (author of Awakenings and An Anthropologist on Mars, among other case-study anthologies) would have a field day with the good folks of Pleasantville, a TV-Land town whose black-and-white citizens turn colour upon enlightment. The ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Film Freak Central
World Socialist Web Site
The Boston Phoenix
Fantastica Daily
Chicago Tribune (Marc Caro)
More clever than coherent. ...read the complete Pleasantville movie review at Chicago Tribune (Marc Caro)
Anchorage Press (Erick Hayden)
Movie Hell (Michael J. Legeros)
Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)
Cinematter (Matt Williams)
Movie Habit (Marty Mapes)
Dark Horizons (Garth Franklin)
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