Astounding Cinema

Rating: 10/10 (31 October 1998)

The Truman Show is cinema at its highest pinnacle- it's the sort of film that all others should be judged against. Though its pace is consistent, never reaching fever pitch, its concept is ground breaking and its storyline magnificent. Jim Carrey is Truman Burbank, an ordinary man, living in an ordinary world. At least that's how he defines his world, for unknown to him, he is the star of the world's most popular television show, 'The Truman Show', which has captured on film every second of his thirty year existence. Everyone he knows are actors, every situation that arises is perfectly choreographed. The idea behind The Truman Show is genius, as was the casting of Carrey in the title role. All too often criticised for his slapstick style in movies such as 'Ace Ventura' and 'Dumb and Dumber', Carrey puts on the performance of a lifetime as Burbank, whose life begins to collapse around him. Also of note are performances by Laura Linney as Truman's 'stage' wife who finds it increasingly difficult to cope with Truman's developing ambition to discover life beyond his manufactured world, and by Ed Harris as Christof, who has single-handedly created and moulded Truman's articifial world. The brilliance of The Truman Show is that it works on so many levels, and plays up to man's greatest fear: that his world is not so secure and perfect as it appears. The Truman Show is astounding cinema. See it. Be Thrilled. See it again.