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The Truman Show
Academy Award® Nominee
Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) is the star of the most popular show in the history of television. Every character in the show is an actor, except for Truman, who is unaware that every moment of his life...  View more >

Starring Jim Carrey, Ed Harris, Laura Linney...  View more >

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Reviews Summary


Please Note: Reader Reviews are submitted by the readers of The BigScreen Cinema Guide and represent their own personal opinions regarding this movie, and do not represent the views of The BigScreen Cinema Guide, or any of its associated entities.

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Jim Carey is far better in this movie than in his previous efforts. Jim makes greater strides toward being a professional actor, than a comedian on film. This movie makes you think about what is real and what is fallacy.

In some respects Jim could have been more emotional at the end. In a situation, that I would have been outraged if it happened to me, Jim dismisses the situation with a light harted comment. Granted this is in the writing of the film, but I feel it detracts from Jim's performance.

All in all, a definate must see. Definate thought provoker!!

[--- Good ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Although I felt the movie started out a little slow, I was very interested in finding out what was happening to the main character. Some parts of the story were a little unbelievable, but when taken in the context of the movie, I was able to believe them. By the end of the film, I found myself rooting for Truman and all of his struggles. Not a big Jim Carrey fan, I did enjoy his performance very much. Worth seeing, however, not the best film of the year as touted by "Entertainment Weekly".

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
This movie is about an ordinary guy named Truman Burbank, who is the star of The Truman Show, a show on TV 7 days a week and 24 hours a day, which he knows nothing about. He doesn't know there were hidden cameras everywhere since the day of his birth. But, when he tries to leave his home and people try to prevent him so they can still have the Truman Show, he knows something's up. You'll just have to see The Truman Show to see what happens next, I'm not telling you because I don't want to spoil it!

Jim Carrey might not seem to be the kind of guy to play Truman, but I thought he was great. I saw this movie for my tenth birthday, and it was a great present. Just see it!

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
The Truman Show (1998)

First, let us now praise Peter Weir and Scott Rudin for producing a film rated PG, one suitable for my daughter on her tenth birthday. THE TRUMAN SHOW had two profanities I can recall, no sex scenes, no gratuitous violence, and a lot of ideas.

All these elements make me like Jim Carrey more than I used to. Although my students have talked about them for years, I have never seen the Ace Ventura movies. I'll admit I rented THE MASK, and got quite a few laughs out of it. And a student teacher in my film literature class showed LIAR LIAR. These are solid but minor comedies, thrust into prominence by our culture's demand for vulgar slapstick. (From what I've heard about THE CABLE GUY, it's not worth my time even to rent, though I do like to claim that, as a teacher of film, I am aware of popular trends.)

What causes me to admire THE TRUMAN SHOW even more is that it's not being hyped as purely a comedy.

Think back to 48 HOURS. (I might better use THE CABLE GUY here, but haven't seen it!) Wasn't this Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte flick advertised as a comedy? But didn't its conflict revolve around one of the most ruthless killers in any film of that year? I remember sitting in the dark and almost shivering at his heartless violence; I was unable even to chuckle at the one-liners Murphy lobbed during the more tense parts of the plot.

Well, THE TRUMAN SHOW is not a comedy, but a heady satire of the American consciousness, a send-up of the voyeuristic media addicts that we've become. When the picture opens with a close-up of Truman Burbank gazing at himself in the mirror of his medicine cabinet, we are pulled in by the wild imagination of his private monologues. But here's the rub: we also realize that moments like this are prized, quirky products of our privacy. One of the reasons this film succeeds is that we are reminded to hate ourselves, however mildly, whenever we see Truman photographed through a "button-cam," or through the console of his sedan. (This is done cleverly, by the way, through lenses with edges resembling coke bottles.) The eaves-droppers ogling the oblivious Truman as he proceeds innocently with his life - the waitresses, the two cops, the guy whose life is lived in his tub - these people are us. This is one type of "winking" the film does.

Another type involves the placement of products. No, these are not real products, like the Reese's Pieces used in E.T. Instead, they are fictional kitchen devices and powdered drinks that Truman's sunny-faced wife is forever pitching in the direction of one of the hundreds of cameras hidden around their house. These are self-reflexive winks, reminding us of the ever-present products that are advertised within the very texts of our films (not to mention in the fictions of writers striving for verisimilitude). That these endorsements have nothing to do with our real lives is stressed in a powerful scene that has Truman desperately confronting the actress playing his wife.

"It's a life," says the director of this television institution, in the opening moments of the film. The way in which writer Andrew Niccol and director Peter Weir make Truman's life realistic is similar to the way writers make their fantasies seem true. Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses minute details in his stories. This is the secret of magical realism. THE TRUMAN SHOW drops in on the title character rummaging through a trunk containing boyhood memories. We see photos of young Truman with his father, now supposedly dead. We see Truman burying his nose in a sweater left behind by a girl named Sylvia (whose cast name is Lauren; there are endless double and deceitful images at work here). We witness countless traces of Truman's past, even through flashbacks on the screens of the world's viewers. In the end, we realize the sanctity that should be accorded Truman's life, and perhaps feel assured that no, our society really would not stand by, letting a corporation adopt a baby and permitting the construction of a set the size of a city, just to broadcast every second of his life.

One weakness is the superficial handling of Truman's wife when Truman is truly on to something. Pushed beyond what she deems "professional," the actress shrieks "Do something!" and soon disappears from the scene. Another actress is conveniently inserted as a possible love interest. But wouldn't it have been more realistic to show the small scenes of loneliness (or maybe relief) felt by Truman as he roamed the house after his "wife's" desertion?

One test I often apply to comedies is, if it gets a belly-laugh out of me, the film is a decent comedy. This test is subjective, of course, but it's just as valid as saying that a short story is good if it makes you cry, a comment I overheard from a creative writing professor. Although I only guffawed during THE TRUMAN SHOW, I relished the frequent funny moments and absolutely loved their intelligence.

From his sickbed, his voice played over a still shot of himself, Gene Siskel said this may be a "watershed" movie for Jim Carrey. I agree. Carrey is no longer just another rubber face. It's the first film of his that I would show as a solid part of a high school film curriculum. My daughter is grateful, too, that it is not among the majority of talked-about films, the PG-13s and Rs which, for the next couple of years, her parents will not permit her to see.

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) is a man who wakes up in the perfect little seaside town of Seahaven Island. He walks out of his door, says hello to his neighbors, goes to his job (as an Insurance salesman), and so forth. Normal routine, right? Little does Truman know that everything around him is a fabrication.

"The Truman Show" is the most blazingly original, amazing film to come out of a major Hollywood studio in years. It's very subject, the media, has never been more powerful. From director Peter Weir ("Fearless"), "The Truman Show" is a masterpiece, probably the best film I will see at the movies this year.

Truman is being watched. No, I don't mean people are following him around. The WORLD is following him around. Truman's entire life, right from birth, has been documented 24 hours a day by a Hollywood corporation. The show is a mass event, watched by anyone who owns a TV.

Truman's whole world is in a dome. The dome is enormous, so big that it is visible from space. Even though he doesn't know it. Every character in his life is an actor, even his "wife", Meryl (Laura Linney), his best friend (Noah Emmerich); everyone around him is just an actor, all maintaining this world just for Truman.

It slowly dawns on Truman that the world he lives in is not all it seems. He begins to see sets, hear weird transmissions, he notices that he can't travel anywhere.

"The Truman Show" is finally a movie from Hollywood that is truly about something, rather than having a bunch of special effects dominate the screen and then having the story come second. The premise is very frightening: how a Hollywood corporation thinks that they can take a child from birth and surround him with a fake world, and then document the whole thing. The ironic thing is, as one of the characters points out, since Truman doesn't know the world around him is fake, his actions, and reactions, are all 100% real.

The movie is also a take on society's overblown appetite of real TV, whether it be the O.J. Simpson trial, the Oklahoma city bombing, or even Princess Diana's death in that now world famous tunnel. Society loves to see real TV, they are obsessed with it, hence the Truman Show's success.

The acting is brilliant, especially from Mr. Carrey. His most powerful film to date (and THAT'S a compliment), he is so believeable and so real in this movie it is very much worth an Oscar nomination. And Ed Harris is once again great, in his role as Christof, the producer of the show.

Films like "The Truman Show" are why I love going to the movies in the first place: you pay your money, you sit down, and you get sucked right into this amazing film, being held by the screen, then gently being let go when it leaves. Yet you don't want to leave. Even at 103 minutes, "The Truman Show" is this kind of great filmmaking that Hollywood didn't seem to have the ability to make. Until now.

Grade: A+

Tech Review

Picture: 3.5 An all right picture from Paramount, with some striking clarity and color in some scenes, then some totally washed out colors in others. Paramount has been doing this for years, though (except in "Titanic", which seemed to have used a different film print). This may be due to the thousands of prints they process, not giving enough time and consideration to each individual one.

Sound: 2.5 (Dolby Digital), 5 (dts) I heard the film in the usual Dolby Digital (have the projectors in my theater even HEARD a dts film compared to a DD one?), and it was too harsh, noisy and unseperated to really give it any care. The dts soundtrack will no doubt be much better, so please try to find a dts soundtrack if possible. You'll thank me for it.

Photography: 5 Even though the film is matted to 1.85:1, the frame is so perfectly framed in every shot that you just stopped caring about scope and cropping.

Length: 103 awesome minutes. Paramount. jwhyte2@hotmail.com ICQ-4339199

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
This is a great movie, about the best movie I've seen this year. It is about a man named Truman, who's entire life has been one big TV show, as the ads have made clear. The show broadcasts 24-hours a day. This movie makes the viewer think, to notice things that aren't quite right about Truman's world. Truman's goofing off is always good for a laugh. The bottom line is, it's a great movie, and if you haven't seen it, go see it now.

[--- Good ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Did the people at Esquire magazine see a different film than I watched on the big screen? The movie of the decade? Not a chance.. What works with The Truman Show is Jim Carrey. As usual, his performance is top notch. His portrayal of Truman Burbank is totally believable. Even the film's premise, as far fetched as it is, gains credibility throughout the picture. Every flaw that the viewer may catch has an answer. Truman Burbank's life has been played out on the big screen from conception to day 10,000 whatever.... His life is a TV program, the creation of a clever TV executive named Christof (Ed Harris) who runs Truman's life as if he is playing God with one man, and the entire world watches Truman as their entertainment. The ficticious town (set) of Sea Haven is comprised of actors who know the truth about Truman Burbank. Sure, there were several cast members and concerned viewers who showed up on the set trying to tell Truman that his life is not what it seems, but the CIA-like goons that worked on the Sea Haven set would whisk the loose-lipped tattlers away before they could completely tell the truth to the unknowing star. We get to meet Truman's TV wife, mother and best friend, who work for Christof, entertaining millions of fans for thirty years. Truman slowly starts to realize that his life is sheltered, and that he has been fed lies from teachers, to girlfriends to Christof-created parents. This is where the picture takes off. Truman needs to find out why his life is repetitive, why he feels like he is being watched, why his wife is so gung-ho over commercial products, and so on. His search for the truth is relentless...

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Before I went to this movie, I read several critic's reviews of this movie. One word that kept coming up in these reviews was "intelligent". After seeing this movie on opening night, I can fully understand what these critics were talking about. The Truman Show is one of the most original and cleverly done movies in recent history. I can only think of 1 or 2 films that was as entertaining to watch in the past 4 or 5 years. In so many films these days, the writers attempt a use of comedy, and we've all seen it fall flat. That does not happen in The Truman Show. The comedy is clever and witty. Jim Carrey is different in this movie than in his prior ones. There's not the sophomoric type of jokes we're used to seeing as in "Dumb and Dumber", "Liar Liar", "The Mask". This performance by Carrey will undoubtedly strengthen his core audience, and add more fans who were not admirers of his prior work. This film is a must see while on the big screen. ****1/2 out of *****.

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
"The Truman Show" is BY FAR one of the best movies I have seen. Imagine that your life, every moment of it, is captured on TV for the world to view without you knowing it. All the people you know are actors, all you see is just one huge set, you're actions are monitored by all, and you're physically sheltered from all that is outside of the set. Truman Burbank, the main character, is this person. Gradually, throughout the movie, he learns of what is actually going on. This is the story of his life, and how he deals with it.

I have to say, that without a doubt, that this was the perfect movie because of Jim Carrey. The casting job for the part of Jim as Truman Burbank was even better than that of him being the Riddler in the not-so-recent "Batman." Surprisingly to me, his odd-ball humor is strongly and tightly controlled, and he seems more civil in this movie than I have ever seen him before. I will definitly not look at him in the same eyes ever again.

This movie, is not only creative, but also captivating. I strongly recommend it to anyone, and everyone. The plot is simple, and complete. I all ready have plans to go see it again, and to own it afterwards. My word of advice is: GO SEE THIS MOVIE. If you don't have a chance to in the regualar theatres, go to the budget. If you don't get to in the budget, rent it. JUST SEE IT. It's wonderful. Simply wonderful. **** out of ****

Jan 25, 2000
Well, it looks like I'm going to go against the grain on this one. I didn't care for the movie much. Maybe I was expecting too much...maybe I didn't think about the film hard enough...maybe it just wasn't that good.

Jim Carrey stars as a man that's spent his entire life in a bubble. He's the star of "The Truman Show", but he doesn't know it. Everyone around him is in on the story. They are all actors, and extras in this TV-Series about the real life of this boy/man.

Truman was the first child ever adopted by a television network, and his entire life has been broadcast to the world 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, since he was born. He has absolutely no idea that something is wrong, until suddenly one day a stage light falls from the sky.

From that point forward, Truman starts to look at things a little bit differently and begins to wonder about the things that he used to take for granted.

Fortunately, some people have a conscience, and try to put a stop to this nonsense by invading the "set" and trying to convince Truman that it's all just a show, and that all he is, is a pawn of the network.

Ed Harris stars as Christof, the "genius" behind The Truman Show. He is not particularly ruthless and uncaring, but he is part of the network, and does his best to protect Truman, and his show.

The interaction of the characters is decent enough, and story line is "ok", but I was expecting more. The movie just didn't do it for me.

I am not a huge Jim Carrey fan or anything, so I wasn't expecting anything like Ace Ventura or his character from The Mask. I was expecting a decent movie, and I don't feel that I got one.

Copyright 1998 - Ron Higgins No unauthorized publication or distribution without the consent of Ron Higgins.

[--- Wait for Rental ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
I must have been watching a different movie from all the other reviewers. I expected much more from the director of Dead Poet's society. The movie was mildly amusing at times while falling short on dramatic interpretation of the consequences of the plot. The characters were for the most part shallow, whether playing TV or "real" people. Some glaring flaws in the screenplay with regard to Truman's life, only added to the feeling that $7 would have been better spent on almost any of the other movies showing.

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
The sanctity of life is what is at question here, not Jim Carrey's humor. If you want a movie that only makes you laugh without a concern for the world around you, then just keep looking. Jim Carrey turns in a remarkable portrayal of a man betrayed by his own kind. Truman is fooled into believing that life is a cakewalk, and as millions of viewers look on, love spoils the script and sends the director of "The Truman Show" scrambling to sew the threads of a web back together. But it opens his eyes and makes him ask soul searching questions like "is this all there is?" Although I believe we have only evolved a little past the days of watching a Christians faith tested by the lions hunger, we still watch wars on t.v., and some of us go to races to see a wreck, or to hockey games to see teeth fly along with the puck. The dark side of our nature is allways with us and occasionally needs attention to tame it. In every theater since Shakespheare the masks of comedy and tragedy are prominent to remind us how close they ride together. Jim showed me that he can express pain and can make us feel it too. He is not just a brainless comic doing anything for a laugh, but is a deep thinker who took on a heavy concept. Is it right for one person to own another? What if it is just one guy and he's a star? At what point will one naturally rebel against the dominance and/or manipulation by another or others? Take a chance and go see this one. Just as in everyone's lives there are some good laughs along with the real, Jim lightly points out that whenever the rights of even one of us are threatened, the rest of ours are too.

[--- Wait for Rental ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
The Truman Show had a lot of potential, but it just didn't cut it as a number one hit. It could have been funnier; however, it did have its moments. It wasn't a total flop. Truman is a very strange character. He is the product of a completely controlled environment. Almost completely. Many times the show had been invaded by outside viewers trying to get their fifteen minutes of fame, but somehow this didn't affect Truman. However, there is one character that has a major impact on him who happens to be a former cast member of the show. This impact led to an interesting ending. Do we hear a sequel?

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Do you remember those B/W Twilight Zone episodes where the people somehow KNOW they're being watched by something bigger, something "out there" ...? And you get that O'Henry twist at the end, and sometimes, without a drop of blood, without bullets ricocheting from all four walls, without one dead body ... you get this chill that raises all the small, short hairs on your arms? And it isn't the A/C? I was reminded of the shows that chilled the viewers from the inside ... from inside the mind that thinks and expands on an "idea". And I am sure there is someone who walked out of THE TRUMAN SHOW and looked up into the sky and knows, WITHOUT A DOUBT, that he or she is in a show today, right now! This movie is an idea that you want to take your thinking friends to so that afterwards, you toss your thoughts around and around, wondering how remote ... or how close ... our lives are to Truman Burbank's. It isn't that the BIG SCREEN is essential to watching THE TRUMAN SHOW; but to be in a darkened theater, so absorbed in watching people watching people who are being watched ... now, that's something to watch!

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
THE TRUMAN SHOW is the best movie I have seen! In the beginning it was kinda slow, but as the movie progressed I really got into it. I wanted to see what would happen to Truman. This movie was well rated and I recommend it for anyone and everyone!

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
The "Truman Show" is definately one of the best movies made this year if not this decade. The movie is about a man named Truman Burbank(Carrey) who begins to suspect there is more to his life that he isn't seeing. What he doesn't know is that his life is a 24/7 nonstop TV show. The story is very refreshing and Carrey's performance is excellent. Good supporting work by Ed Harris.

[--- Good ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
I must admit, I am a little dissapointed at this movie. The movie does not show enough of Truman's life to get the "whole picture" -- mostly just the crisis he faces. The movie was low-key, and although Carrey did an excellent job at his role, most would expect a gut-wrenching laugh-fest that Carrey is exceptional at. Still, it brings up an interesting philosophical question, and I (although I have met no others that felt the same way) started looking for the cameras on me when I walked out. Well, before I realised just how uninteresting a show called "Prust" would ultimately be...

[--- Wait for Rental ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Talk about dissapointment. This was one of the top summer movies that I was looking forward to seeing. The reasons I wanted to see it were, one of my favorite actors Jim Carrey (Dumb and Dumber, Ace Ventura) was in it and doing some serious acting. Another reason was the clever story line of a man's entire life being a popular TV show. The final reason was the great reviews I had read, there wasn't a single poor review. Usually I don't listen to reviewers because they're usually way off, but when they all agree on something it seems like they are right. This time they were not. I cannot believe that people are mentioning this for best picture. It was an above average film, nothing more. Jim Carrey plays Truman Burbank who's whole life is the most popular show on TV. It runs 24 hours a day with no commercials, it makes money by showing off products. Everyone who is in the huge set that Carrey lives in is an actor except for himself. He obviously does not know all this and lives his life like anyone else. Ed Harris (Apollo 13, The Rock) plays the creator of the show who also runs it. Laura Linney (Absolute Power, Primal Fear) plays the actress who plays his wife and Noah Emmerich (Beautiful Girls, Copland) plays an actor who plays his best friend. The story line is great and overall the movie is well written, but it just never was that exciting to me. The way that the director pulls off all the cameras on the show is very well done. Jim Carrey is excellent, while rarely pulling any of his usual slapstick humor. Ed Harris, Laura Linney, and Noah Emmerich are all good, but the movie just didn't pull it off. The movie is worth seeing for the performances and story line, plus I liked the ending.

[--- Stay Away! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
i dont get this movie. jim cary is some guy who is always on tv. why do people watch him all the time. what happens when he goes poop or takes a shower do they get to watch that to? that would be illegal cause it would be spying on him. everyone likes this movie so much, but i thought that it was too weird. like when he met that girl when he was a teenager and fell in love with her. why did she get kidnapped? this movie is really boring and jim cary isnt funny at all. i liked him alot better in ace ventura and dum and dummer.

[--- Good ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
It took me a little while to figure out what was going on in the Truman show. You have to be patient in the beginning of the movie. It seemed rather disjointed to me but I stuck with it. Eventually, things begin to make sense and you begin to appreciate what Jim Carey's title character is enduring. Carey is becoming a more respectable actor all the time without being downright silly all the time. Good movie. Go see it.

[--- Good ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
The best word to describe THE TRUMAN SHOW has to be 'overrated'. This is a good, but not great, movie. First off, I have a hard time believing that the entire world would be so facinated with one man's life. I know for a fact that if my life was broadcasted 24 hours a day, it would bore the hell outta people. The guy who installed a TV in his bathtub so he could watch the show all the time was extremely far-fetched. Personally, I don't think that he'd ever think to question the validity of his environment. As kooky as his environment seems to us, it would seem perfectly normal to him because he would have never been anywhere else in his life.

Jim Carrey delivers a strong, but not Oscar caliber performance. Laura Linney is really good as Truman's extroardinarily phony wife. Peter Weir's direction is quite smooth, but at times uncomfortable. The best element of this film is its score, which perfectly captures the film's atmosphere.

Overall, this is a movie that can be viewed just as well on home video. It is very interesting, but not the masterpiece that it's suppossed to be.

[--- Good ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
I don't see very many movies in the theatres and the last movie I saw in theatre (besides 'The Truman Show') was 'Men In Black'. That tells you that I like to wait for a video rental and I am quite critical. I liked the movie 'The Truman Show' and almost cried in some spots. It's kind of a sad movie because his whole life is a television show running 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Everything he does or says is on television. That's not spoiling it because you all know the basic plot of the movie. On the other hand, there are some funny "one-liners" and the "product placements". I won't tell anymore about the movie because you should see it in the theatre or rent it the first night that it is available for rental.

I believe that the movie is a more serious role for Jim Carrey and he does an excellent job of portraying the character. In my opinion, this is the best comedy/drama movie of the summer. Please feel free to contact me at dmehus@usa.net if you agree or disagree. I would love to hear what you think. Overall, this is a very good movie!

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Even Before the Truman Show Came out, I knew I was going to like it. Just the concept of the film was enough for me to like it. The idea of the film is an Idea that I have thought about alot myself and I was releived that somebody was going to explore it. Now comes the interesting part: when I saw it. I was either going to be dissapointed or pleased. The end result, I found, was enjoyable but didnt really live up to the films build up. Truman had been born into his fake world. All he knew was fake. He would have no idea that it was fake, of course, so he would hold no perceptions of reality. Because all he knew was what he was told, and all he was told was measured so that he thought he lived in true society. This bugged me a little bit, but overall I thought it was directed well and Jim Carreys performance was FANTASTIC. Thanks- Dan

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Welcome to the world's most watched television shows, brought to you live from Seahaven it's the Truman Show. There you have it, this is what our world is comiing to, when a hollywood corporation can exploit someone's live 24 hours a day 7 days a week, i am moving to the moon. Poor Truman Burbank (played unbelievablely by Jim Carrey) is living in a world where no harm is inflicted upon him, no financial problems, no worry's. To secure this habitat that truman would not want to escape or leave they made his father die at sea, but his father is an actor, just like everyone living in Seahaven. Everything there is synthetic, all controled by one man, Christof (Ed Harris), he can cue the sun at 4 in the morning, all actors have radios and he cues them when to start walking or acting.

Truman occasionaly has flashbacks about his father and his high school sweetheart, or how he is not allowed to leave Seahaven. The dramatical score just made the hole surrounding seem so alive as Truman begins to reveal small aspects that the whole world revoloves around him. This movie wouldn't be as sucessful if it weren't for Jim Carrey who should without a doubt get a nomination if not an oscar.

His wife makes everday a heyday, and his best friend is a beer guzzling buddy whom you can talk to, the only person that truely cares about Truman is his high school sweethear Laura Linney, she protests the company, and makes explicit phone calls to the shows creator demanding him to release Truman. All in all a very powerful movie, you will find yourself tearing though in some parts, Bravo Jim, just don't lose that comic touch.

GRADE: A

[--- Stay Away! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
This movie, which has received mostly positive reviews, was directed by the highly revered Peter Weir. It was supposed to be the "must see" film for the summer and mark a new intelligent direction for Hollywood. However, I hated this film and actually walked out on it and the funny thing was, I wasn't the only one who walked out.

I found this movie to be as weak (and dumb) as Peter Weir's other stinker "GREEN CARD" ! I couldn't buy into the ludicrous premise of this movie. Even for sci fi fans it was just too far-fetched and way too dumb. It was as phony and boring as the actual village where it was filmed - Seaside, Florida (called Sea Haven in the film). Instead of renting this movie, money would be better spent on a trueclassic by a genuinely talented director like Alfred Hitchcock.

[--- Good ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
My beef with The Truman Show was the way Hollywood marketed the film. By revealing that Truman’s life is a television show, they’ve spoiled the point of the movie. Did trailers for a Hitchcock film reveal the murderer? Did the movie poster for The Game reveal the ending? Did TV ads for The Usual Suspects tell us who Keiser Soze is? Certainly not, and as a result of whoever’s decision it was to do this with The Truman Show, we the viewers are waiting around for the first hour of the film for Truman to catch up to us. It’s a shame because the movie is very good and the revelation of Truman’s life as a television show could have been a masterful moment. But the studio couldn’t risk another "Cable Guy," and as a result we get a film that ironically isn’t as enjoyable as Carrey’s greatest "flop." Speaking of "Cable Guy," every time I hear someone bad mouth "The Cable Guy," I ask them why they didn't like it. An alarming number then admit, "Oh, I never saw it. I just heard it was awful." At the 50 cents to $ 1.00 catalog rental prices you should be able to rent it for, why not check it out and decide for yourself.

CABLE GUY 10-point scale rating: 7
TRUMAN SHOW 10-point scale rating: 6

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
REFRESHING! A story line that never exsisted before The Truman Show. I like spending $7 on a movie that is NOT reality driven (I can watch the news for that). This is NOT a comedy, and shouldn't be taken as one. Carry did an excellent job, like he did in Liar Liar. Truman's life even though planned, played and written ahead of time was predicatable because it is so much like real life. Another critic wrote: "Because all he knew was what he was told, and all he was told was measured...". How prolific! All WE know was told to us and trust me when I say it WAS measured - from your parents to the school curriculum - measured. If you see the movie and don't get it...don't think so hard...listen and watch. On 10 point rating = 9. This should make you think. If not, your life is probably in worse shape that Truman's.

[--- Good ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
As a frequenter of Jim Carrey's comedies, I had assumed "The Truman Show" to be yet another of his wanky, hilarious shows, especially suited for relieving stress after an ardous exam. I must say that I was plesantly surpised. For once we are given a glimpse of the serious actor that Jim Carrey has the potential to become beneath his slap-stick comedy, flexible facial expressions and exagerated gestures. The plot has the combustible combination of being both orginal and yet in a certain way, heart-rending. Although no one actor/actress stands out in the cast, yet they are convincing as a group - just as in "Titanic". This movie in my opinion is refreshing and Jim Carrey is rather endearing. It would definitely be a movie worth watching.

[--- Wait for Rental ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Slow moving plot. Could have been a great movie with better writing and better editing. Carey does the best he can with what is given to him.

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
This Movie is a MUST SEE! Jim Carrey makes it so incredibly emotional and touching, I wanted to see it over and over again! Carrey played Truman's part so well, I had to remind myself that people really didn't make a TV show about Truman. This movie will change your life forever, and leave you beging for a sequel. JIM CARREY IS SO INCREDIBLY FINE!

Jul 21, 2003

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