I was amazed by this film's affirmation of values that respect others without losing sight of the simple pleasures of life. Adam is the embodiment of these values. Confronted with this character who is as pure as the driven snow, writer/director Hugh Wilson was struck by the idea of turning the conventional comedy-of-manners structure on its head. He notes: "This script is a comedy-of-manners that breaks the formula. Normally, the hero is an anti-hero, breaking the rules, getting laughs from being physically offensive, often at the expense of someone polite, sensitive, well-educated. But in this case the hero is the polite and sensitive one, the one who proves himself to be what people secretly want."

Adam's deeply romantic view of the world ­ born of innocent awe -- is what drew producer Renny Harlin to Kelly and Wilson's unusual script. "It was both very romantic and very funny," he says. "But, I also feel it's about something important. It deals with the loss of values, loss of morals, loss of innocence that we've undergone in the last 30-40 years. Since the fifties, the world has changed a lot. In this world, you can't trust anything or anybody. Introducing Adam to our world really juxtaposes these values and beliefs in a very, very funny way."

Actor Alicia Silverstone admits being drawn to the script because of its message, "I just wanted to be a part of it. You know, there's a lot of bad relationships in the world and there's a lot of unhappiness and sometimes it's hard to believe in the possibility of true love and people respecting one another and being kind to one another. I think it's a real possibility, only you have to create it and work at it."

THE KEY SCENE IN THE FILM

Pleasantville abounds in Garden of Eden images.

JESUS HELP US SINNERS
Subject: Blast_From_the_Past
Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2000
From: Star sailer

this is one trippy site. its like taking anything and turning it into good news. i know its movies and such but it could be reallife. like if charlie manson was released and him and his group killed more people, you could give reasons related to religon as to why this happened again. check out the backround scene? the things im thinking i cant even type fast enough. hollywoodjesus.com? whatever. bizzare is my first thought , jesus help us sinners comes to mind and finally, what next????????????

FROM MY FRIEND IN FLINT MICHIGAN
Blast from the Past
THREE AND ONE HALF STARS
review by David Forsmark
Flint Journal, in Flint, Michigan.

The term "nuclear family'' takes on new meaning in "Blast from the  Past,'' a gently satirical and consistently hilarious comedy from "WKRP'' creator Hugh Wilson. "Blast'' asks the question: How would a young man brought up in   isolation in a locked bomb shelter with his parents since 1962, and who has   that era's values, survive if he were unleashed in modern Los Angeles? Extremely well, thank you. Better, at least, than the offspring of  parents who through over-tolerance and neglect let their kids raise  themselves, and sent them messages like "marriage bites.'' "Blast from the Past,'' posits that if losing morals and manners was the price of  sophistication, then the price may have been too high. Call this "Pleasantville'' in reverse. But there is another way that "Blast'' is the polar opposite of  "Pleasantville''-- this movie is as funny in its last reel as it is in the  first, and never degenerates into heavy handed speechifying. Brendan Fraser is completely charming as Adam, the son of Calvin and  Helen Webber (Christopher Walken and Sissy Spacek), who trapped themselves in  their timelocked backyard bomb shelter when, at the height of the Cuban  Missile Crisis, they mistook a plane crash in their yard as the dropping of The Big One. For 35 years, Calvin, an eccentric but brilliant inventor, educates  young Adam, and Helen teaches him what a lady is looking for in a young  gentleman. But when Calvin emerges from his bomb shelter in his radiation  suit into a drug den, and then engages a transvestite prostitute in  conversation, he decides that the post-apocalypse, mutant-infested world is  even worse than he expected! The shock puts Calvin in a sick bed, and Adam is sent to gather  provisions before the family locks themselves in for another decade. He's  also told that if he can find "A healthy young woman,'' among the mutants, to "bring her on down.'' Adam meets her almost immediately, when Eve (Alicia Silverstone)  steps in to stop him from being cheated out of a box of immensely valuable baseball cards. She figures he is from "out of town," and, after some   coaxing, agrees to help Adam with his shopping. When he tells her he is also looking for a wife, she says, "Why?  Marriage bites.''
     "Who told you that?'' Adam inquires.
     "My divorced brothers, my divorced friends, my divorced parents...  Everybody is divorced,'' she answers.
     "EVERYBODY?'' Adam shouts, astounded at this confused new world.
     Another great jab at the way someone from the 1950s world and the 1990s one might miscomunicate happens when Adam meets Troy, (Dave Foley of "Newsradio'') Eve's roommate. "He's gay,'' she explains.
     "Well good for you!'' Adam exclaims, pumping Troy's hand enthusiastically. Later, he says to Troy as he is leaving, "And thanks for being so happy!''
Though he has done the naif in the modern world thing twice before in "George of the Jungle'' and "Encino Man,'' Brendan Fraser is refreshing and  energetic as Adam. The success of this movie rests on his charm, and he carries it easily.
     Alicia Silverstone keeps it low key as his romantic foil, and that's  a wise choice. For once, she is just fine. Dave Foley does a nice job, lending a certain neurotic quirkiness to a role that has become a cliche in other movies, where the lead actress's gay best friend is inevitably the picture's wisest soul.
     Stealing every scene they are in, Christopher Walken and Sissy Spacek are a scream as the loving, but also slightly wacky parents. These are the   roles that could have degenerated into complete parody, but these two fine veterans also capture the warmth of Adam's parents, not just their anachronistic mannerisms. Hugh Wilson proves here that a high concept comedy can also have depth if it is well thought out. "Blast from the Past'' is one of the best surprises in a long time.

GREAT
May 24, 1999. This is a great movie.

"GOOD OLD FASHIONED FAMILY VALUES"
May 17, 1999. I enjoyed the movie very much. It was a nice break. I left the theatre feeling a little like I had emerged from a bomb shelter, back into the reality of the 90's. I felt the movie depicted "good old fashioned family values" as a good thing, for a change.