90s Movie Review - The Truman Show

Director: Peter Weir
Genre: Drama/ Comedy
Runtime: 103 minutes
Year: 1998
Starring: Jim Carrey, Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Natascha McElhone, Ed Harris, Holland Taylor, Paul Giamatti, Philip Baker Hall

Description: Insurance salesman Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) discovers his whole life is actually a reality TV show.

Review: Jim Carrey has always been a comedic actor, especially in the early 90s. with movies like “Ave Venture: Pet Detective”, “The Mask” and “Dumb & Dumber” he dominated 90s comedies. Even in “Batman Forever” he was the comedic relief. And then there was “The Truman Show”, a tragicomedy director by Peter Weir, where Carrey wasn’t supposed to be the funny guy. At the time, people were really wondering if he could be comfortable in a role like that. Well he did and it’s one of Carrey’s best performances to date.
In the story, written by Andrew Niccol, there is enough room for humor, but the focus is on Truman’s search for a world outside his hometown Seahaven. But his fear of the open water keeps him on the island all his life, when his biggest dream is to leave it and travel to Fiji.
What Truman doesn’t know is that his life has been followed by cameras since he was born and millions of people around the world watch him every day. The unsuspecting insurance agent is living in a reality TV show created by Christof. He lives on the largest TV set ever created and everyone in the town is an actor. The only thing that is real is Truman.
Jim Carrey plays the role of the ignorant and somewhat melancholic Truman excellently and as a viewer you easily sympathize with him. You just hope he finds out the truth and that he can leave the ‘prison’ he has been living in all his life. His search for a life outside Seahaven and the discovery of him being in a TV show is just as gripping as comedic, while the sneaky Christof does everything to keep his star captured. Ed Harris, who plays Christof, is only seen in a few scenes, but he does a lot in the little screen time he has.
Peter Weir succeeded in creating a film that both grabs you and humors you. It’s a tragic comedy and Jim Carrey fits this genre perfectly. Refreshing to see him do this.

Rating: 4,5/ 5