Pleasantville
New Line Cinema | Release Date: October 23, 1998 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
71
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
24
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Funny for about half an hour, Pleasantville thereafter becomes an increasingly lugubrious, ultimately exasperating mix of technological wonder and ideological idiocy. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineSandra Contreras
His (Ross) sophisticated handling -- and the efforts of his able cast, notably the stellar Joan Allen -- produces a surprisingly accomplished cumulative effect. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
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 full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
The movie's simplistic storyline does not match its stunning visual accomplishments: Pleasantville's story is drawn from a palette that's strictly limited to black-and-white. Read full review
50
USA TodayMike Clark
Glum and preachy. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
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 full review
50
Film.comTom Keogh
Ross might have been better served by dismissing verisimilitude altogether and going for a real fable-fable to make what is essentially a very simple point about the dangers and rewards of accepting life's beautiful risks.
50
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
When Ross gets serious and grasps for allegorical import, Pleasantville bogs down in mixed ambitions. Read full review
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