Pleasantville (1998) Critic Reviews

The kind of parable that encourages us to re-evaluate the good old days and take a fresh look at the new world we so easily dismiss as decadent.Read the full review

Technical elegance and fine performances mask the shallowness of a story as simpleminded as the '50s TV to which it condescends; certainly it's got none of the depth, poignance, and brilliance of "The Truman Show," the recent TV-is-stifling drama that immediately comes to mind.Read the full review

Ross' missive is earnest and well-intentioned, but it's difficult not to feel that his film both runs on too long and overreaches its dramatic resources in its attempt to deliver it.Read the full review

Not only is Pleasantville a satire, a fantasy, and a visual marvel, but it's the best kind of feel-good movie.Read the full review

When Ross gets serious and grasps for allegorical import, Pleasantville bogs down in mixed ambitions.Read the full review

Ingenious fantasy.Read the full review

To concentrate on the minor faults of a fable as beautiful and unusual as Pleasantville would be missing the point.Read the full review

Glum and preachy.Read the full review

Ingeniously conceived and impressively executed, Pleasantville is a provocative, complex and surprisingly anti-nostalgic parable.Read the full review