Review of The Truman Show (1998) by John M — 03 Sep 2016

Originality through fabrication. This is about a man who has been unknowingly starring in his own reality television show since birth (Jim Carrey). He finally begins to gain awareness that there may be a man behind the curtain.

In a very foreshadowing manor, this came out right before the big reality television boom; sure, there was already MTV's The Real World, but reality TV didn't really take off until Survivor hit the scene in 2000.

The Truman Show really captures exactly what people crave from television today, and it is great at never letting you forget that all of this is being filmed, and everybody's watching. Carrey can be superb when he is utilized correctly, and he does a great job playing this incredibly earnest character.

If I were to register a small complaint about this, though, it would be that he has a few of his trademark Carrey-isms that anybody can easily identify, and it did take me out of the movie at a couple of points.

The performance that Laura Linney turns in is grossly underrated; it is so difficult to portray an actor playing an actor, and she knocks it out of the park. This manages to be both sweet and charming, and also serious when need be; when it gets real, it gets real.

This has a lot to say about the TV that we watch, and is ultimately a very human story.