Entertaining, funny, thought-provoking....a masterpiece.

Rating: 9/10 (28 August 2005)

The Truman Show has received quite a lot of praise since it's release in 1998, but it's never really managed to achieve the status that it rightly deserves. What we have here is a film that more than delivers on the entertainment front, while still finding time for a backbone of thought-provoking substance. More often than not with movies that work from a premise, rather than an actual plot, they miss the mark because of a lack of ideas to populate the premise with; but that certainly isn't the case here! The film follows the story of Truman Burbank. Truman is an insurance salesman, but unlike most insurance salesmen; he has his own show. And unlike most people with their own show...he doesn't know about it. Truman Burbank is the unwitting star of the massively successful TV show; The Truman Show. His whole life has been the subject of this show and everything that he believes to be real is actually the brainchild of the show's creator, the flamboyant Christof. We then follow Truman as he goes about finding out that the real world, and his world, are different places entirely.
As you might expect, this plot gives the film great basis for thought-provoking ideas. The idea itself of having a TV show filmed around your life is intriguing to say the least, and is more than enough to inspire paranoia from more than a few audience members. The idea is fused with the drama surrounding Truman's life, and the two blend brilliantly. Adding to this is the way that the film gives a commentary on the waive of reality TV shows. The substance is more than evident, as we are shown that Truman is a prisoner within his own life and the TV crew are, in effect, 'God'. The Truman Show features what is probably Jim Carey's best performance. The way that he amiably portrays the character makes the film a delight to watch. Carey was, of course, more known for his over the top (and very good) comedy roles before this film, but here he really shows his worth as an actor. The rest of the cast is mainly made up of lesser-known stars, with Ed Harris standing out and the rest helping to build the film into a great ensemble drama. Before this film, Peter Weir was known for making OK-good films such as Dead Poet's Society and Witness; but this film is his masterpiece.