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Rewind, Review, and Re-Rate: ‘The Truman Show’: A Fascinating Look at Privacy and Reality
PG | 1h 43min | Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi | 5 June 1998 (USA)
I’ve never been a huge fan of exaggerated or outrageous forms of comedy, not even of the screwball variety that was so popular in the 1930s and ’40s. I feel that if something is funny enough, it should be able to stand on its own and be subtle in its delivery, instead of relying on showy or overblown antics.
Therefore, while I have enjoyed watching Jim Carrey in some of his dramatic roles, such as the character Tim Carter in 1992’s TV drama “Doing Time on Maple Drive,” I was never fond of his outlandish films: “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” (1994), “The Mask” (also 1994), or the absolutely dreadful (in my opinion) “The Cable Guy” (1996).
The Truman Show is founded on an enormous secret that all of the studio s advertising has been determined to reveal. I didn t know the secret when I saw the film, and was able to enjoy the little doubts and wonderings that the filmmakers so carefully planted. If by some good chance you do not know the secret, read no further.
Those fortunate audience members (I trust they have all left the room?) will be able to appreciate the meticulous way director Peter Weir and writer Andrew Niccol have constructed a jigsaw plot around their central character, who doesn t suspect that he s living his entire life on live television. Yes, he lives in an improbably ideal world, but I fell for that: I assumed the movie was taking a sitcom view of life, in which neighbors greet each other over white picket fences, and Ozzie and Harriet are real people.