Brilliant performance from Jim Carrey!

Rating: 9/10 (6 January 2002)

Jim Carrey is to 'The Truman Show' what James Stewart is to 'It's a Wonderful Life' - completely indispensable. Carrey's great performance as Truman, a man predestined to be an eternal innocent and denied the full knowledge of how his circumstances came to be, makes this film. In spite of an over-the-top 'Twilight Zone' style plot, this film has more to say about the 'human condition' (and is far superior) than 'Good Will Hunting' which aspires to the loftier heights of 'realism'.
The cruel director, played by Ed Harris, is not a million miles away from the so-called 'fly-on-the-wall' documentary directors, who manipulate real people and pepper our screens with tedious, victim based documentaries which claim to be great social insights. Carrey's portrayal of the innocent Truman has great pathos and a touching quality. In being denied the truth about his real existence, Truman is unknowingly imprisoned in a childlike existence that he has never had the opportunity to shape for himself.
Carrey's brilliant performance wins the audiences' sympathy when he finds out the reality of his 'constructed' existence and tries to break free from this cruel manipulation and tyranny. What makes this film stand out today is that it is one of the few films of recent times, based around the theme of personal liberty. When there is so much false theorising in the real world about what constitutes 'liberty' and we are being told that fewer liberties is a new consequence of fighting a 'war for civilisation', it is refreshing to watch a film that is funny, entertaining and wholly sympathetic to the idea of personal freedom.