One of Peter Weir's Finest

Rating: 9/10 (6 September 2010)

The dramedy The Truman Show is directed by Peter Weir and stars Jim Carrey, Laura Linney, and Ed Harris. The film takes place in a modern day film set.
The film starts off with a man named Christof (Harris) telling how he created a television series where a person's life is watched from beginning to end. This person is Truman Burbank (Carrey). Truman is a very nice person and he has no idea that his life is not normal and that he is actually on television. He is married to Meryl Burbank (Linney) who is an actress that is not really married to him. So basically Truman's whole life is scenarios set up by Christof for the entertainment of the world to watch. But soon Truman starts to realize things and believes that something is wrong...
The screenplay is from Andrew Niccol and it is his second, his first being Gattaca. Niccol received an Oscar nomination for his writing and he does deserve it. The film is extremely original and is a true pleasure to watch. It is funny and full of drama, and I just couldn't wait to see how it ended. There are only a few minor problems with the screenplay and none of them made it not enjoyable. One of them was the fact that there were no strong anti slavery groups against the show because in a way Truman was a slave. Another is that there were some convenient slips of the tongue which made Truman more suspicious. Besides those though it was an excellent screenplay.
The direction of this film was also quite good. Peter Weir as well earned an Oscar nomination, and yes he did earn it. He really knew how to get great performances out of his actors, every single one of them played their parts great. The shots in the film were excellent as well and I just felt so absorbed. I was rooting for Truman the whole time and it is hard to get a person to like a character that much. Overall very good direction.
The acting in this film was superb. Jim Carrey gives a great performance as Truman and this is one of the few performances that Carrey has that is not a comedic role. He is great being so innocent and warm hearted. I just loved it whenever he said "If I don't see you again later good afternoon, good evening, and good night". Laura Linney was great as Truman's pretend wife. She acted like a not so great actress and it was really quite enjoyable to watch her try and make Truman believe that his world is real. One of my favorite parts of this film for me is when Truman is questioning her and she just starts saying how great cocoa beans are for an advertisement. She was just great. Ed Harris was the creator of the show, Christof, and he gave an excellent performance. He received an Oscar nomination for the intense creative mind and he deserved because while I was watching I could really feel how much he loved the world he created. And the last thing he wanted to happen was for Truman to destroy it.
Overall I give this film a very strong 8/10. I would recommend This film for anyone who likes creative films, Jim Carrey, or just really enjoyable films.