The Truman Show

Original, with a polished script, clever, humorous, and brilliantly acted. Alongside Man on the Moon, probably Jim Carrey's best film. It's a movie that denounces the phenomenon of reality shows and any manipulation of humans, as well as consumerist lifestyles built on commerce and ubiquitous advertising. While Peter Weir hasn't made any bad films, this is the pinnacle of his work so far. Overall impression: 95%. (2006-06-14)

In its day, The Truman Show was one of the fascinating great cinematic experiences that transcended media. At the time, we read articles in magazines and were unfamiliar with the reality show format, yet we knew Jim Carrey had crossed another milestone. That feeling has remained, and even after becoming familiar with the format, The Truman Show must simply be admired. (2021-07-05)

Spoiler... A film whose main theme is our own perspective. Limiting it to the phenomenon of a reality show and tabloids is superficial. Niccol's script focuses much more on how we construct ourselves as subjects, how we build our own perception of reality, our own identity. Peter Weir subtly captures this finesse, plays with the viewer, and is consistently ironic. The ending forced me to make a triumphant gesture - if anyone considers it a happy ending, he has clearly been the victim of his own The Truman Show. This is reality as we know it and accept it... The point of the film is not that Truman finds his exit, but that our exit is still far-off. "We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented. It's as simple as that." The entire Truman Show is built on this principle reflected in its form (consistently within limits of possibilities). (2011-10-24)

Touching, funny, poignant - all together and perfectly executed. I don't know how Americans, as a TV nation, viewed it, but given the decent box office returns, they probably liked it. I would love to play this movie for the soap opera addicts to enjoy as well. You can see them in the perfectly staged shots of loyal TV viewers - the two old ladies hugging couldn’t have been better. But they might not get it... "What is Lima doing again? Change the channel, this is awful." (2002-07-21)

Along with Memento, this is probably the most original Hollywood movie of the 1990s. The idea behind it is brilliant, executed in a perfect symbiosis of depth of thought with tremendous emotions. I admire The Truman Show for absolutely every component of it. I understand that it may not captivate everyone, just as the supposedly brilliant American Beauty, for example, didn’t captivate me. (2003-05-15)