Wolff rating: GOOD
Plot summary: Fable about two children sucked into the all black-and-white all white world of 1958 TV.
Biased, pithy comments: The writer of ``Dave'' and ``Big'' certainly knows hiw way around the fish-out-of-water comedy/drama. With big sweeps from comedy to probably-too-many tragic moments as the characters go from black and white to color and discover passion, the movie's odd premise and strange characters really work, or at least for most of the film. What doesn't quite work is how the end of this movie maps back to real life---so, people with passion are like, uh, black people? Is this a big metaphor for the 60s cultural revolution? Is it a screed against the neoconservative family-values types? Err, whatever. I'm quibbling though; as these sorts of big Hollywood movies go, this one is fine, with a simmering performance by Reese Witherspoon as the poodle-skirt girl gone bad. And it's just downright neat to see how all the black-and-white and the color mixes together first in drips and then in torrents of color; truly a story that could only exist on film.
Other Notes: Watch for cute little details, like the Indian's changing expression in the test pattern. Also, this is the first movie I've seen that gets you to adjust the color on your set before you start. Pretty cool.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Tobey Maguire, Joan Allen, William H. Macy, Don Knotts.
Directed by: Gary Ross