Change Your Image
mfbauch
Reviews
Pleasantville (1998)
How pleasant is Pleasantville?
I was born in 1954, so I have no specific memories of the '50s (except maybe for starting school in 1959). But I've seen Father Knows Best, Ozzie and Harriet, The Donna Reed Show, Andy Griffith, etc., all of which provided the black-and-white idealized fictions of American life that are the subjects of Gary Ross's movie Pleasantville.
Why have I seen this movie about 15 times and watch it again every chance I get? I keep asking myself, if I had the same opportunity as David and Jennifer had in this movie, would I succeed in gently moving these black-and-white stereotypes of living human beings toward greater acceptance of life, self, and others? Could I help them see all the colors? I'd probably screw it up and make some unintended changes in the future as we have lived it. Could we avoid blurting out, say, that we survive the Cold War and that the Soviet Union ceases to exist - in 1991? Could we avoid talking about the Vietnam War and what a disaster that was? Should we mention the political assassinations of the 1960s, and Watergate? Maybe hardest of all, suppose we interacted with our parents, grandparents or other family members - would we have the strength to again see them as living people when we also know that they died during our lifetime? Others may feel more equal to the task, but I don't think that I could do it without ruining the future.
Lush Life (1993)
good movie, terrific soundtrack
Lush Life is a fairly standard buddy movie (with Forest Whitaker and Jeff Goldblum), but this time the buddies are interesting people and have talent. There's also a slight "cherchez la femme" subplot, but it adds to the story instead of distracting from it. Kathy Baker does a wonderful job of proving her character's importance to the story without taking (too much) away from the interactions between Goldblum and Whitaker, two jazz musicians each facing their share of turning points in each of their lives.
The music is what kept me interested. Each of the principals has a big-name jazz stand-in, and the voice and virtuoso playing of the stand-ins practically steal the movie. I love classic jazz; if you do, too, see -- and, more important, listen to -- Lush Life.
P.S. If anyone knows whether a soundtrack album exists, or even a few CDs where I can find the tunes, please let me know.