Quite possibly the most intelligent allegory ever put on screen

Rating: 10/10 (16 April 2003)

This is a perfect film. Andrew Niccol, a genius of frightening allegories(Gattacca, S1mone) created a brilliant story of a reality TV show(before we HAD reality TV shows) created by a demented genius known only as Christof(Ed Harris) about the life of Truman Burbank(Jim Carrey, in what is his first and best dramatic role--I can't believe he wasn't nominated!) who lives the American Dream in a picture-perfect island town. From the start, as you see that everyone he meets(or is supposed to meet) is an actor, and people are glued to the TV 24-7 to watch his life unfold. The movie is a frightening tale of manipulation, reality, environment, and a number of other things that haven't come to mind yet. Laura Linney, as Truman's "nurse" wife Meryl is hilarious when she picks up an object and speaks to the camera, advertising the item to the audience while Truman just watches, a little bewildered by her enthusiasm. Noah Emerich as Truman's beer-guzzling best friend comes up with some subtle yet humorous lines: "You've got a DESK job! I'd kill for a desk job." Natascha McElhone also shines as the girl who stole his heart, exposed him to the truth, and now is part of a minority of people protesting to free Truman. As Truman's suspicions arise about his life we feel with Truman, we become just as intrigued by his adventures as the people watching him on TV, and perhaps more compasionately. Ed Harris adds subtle charm to his character as a man who admires his art so much, and takes it so seriously, that he has come to forget that he's not God, and that Truman is a person just like everybody else. As long as he can keep him afraid of the water, Truman is a prisoner, never going to Fiji.