Rating: 
Summary: Jim! What were you thinking!
Review: This movie was rediculas. It had jokes almost as pathetic as the ones in Big Daddy! This guy's entire life broadcasted on TV? From how old Jim is he must have been born in the '60s, and I doubt they had the technology to do all the stuff they did with the sun and moon back then (heck, I doubt we have the technology to do it now!). I also doubt this movie takes place in the future since most of the stuff looks like it came out of the '50s! Go see EDtv, it's a whole lot more beliveable!
Rating: 
Summary: love it
Review: This movie is the best that I've seen in a long time - mostly because on each subsequent viewing I have discovered more about it. Unlike many reviewers, I even enjoyed the start - the music actually brought a lump to my throat in a way that no other movie has! My favourite element of the film? Probably the symbolism, and the names - Meryl (Streep), Marlon (Brando), Angela (Lansbury), Vivien (Leigh)...they were all wonderful! My favourite character was the 'god' Christof, and I must comment on the wonderful music, which never failed to set the scene.This movie has its roots deep in ethical issues, and as I type this I'm not sure whether there are cameras in this room tracking my every movement - not a film to be taken lightly.
Rating: 
Summary: I am far in the minority here, but.....
Review: I was not one of the millions of people amazed with this movie. I had been told it was a breakthrough performance for Carrey and the movie itself was a very well done look at the human psyche when it wonders if the world around it is real or fake. Sadly when I finally saw the dvd I was letdown on many many levels. Carrey turns in a fine performance, no bad words to be said towards his performance at all. My problem lies in the way the director brought the story to the screen as well as the story itself to a degree. I was just never pulled into this world and never felt as if Truman was a character I truly felt for when it came down to it. The picture and sound are both adequate on the dvd, althought the picture seemed a bit soft at points. No extras to speak of really except for a very well done animated menu.
Rating:
Summary: Very Original Story (Hi Kris)
Review: I first watched The Truman Show not expecting much, but it drew me in with its complexitys of the plot. This is one of Jim Carrey's best performances. Its the perfect role for him. A character like Truman needs some zanyness that Carrey provides. Ok so we all know the plot: Truman Burbank, an average man living in tranquility, has a suspision that something isn't completely right in his flawless town of SeaHaven. Lighting fixtures fall from the sky. Elevators with no walls. Shady people who come in and dissapear without a trace. He tries to leave the prosperous town, but the bus driver doesnt seem to know how to drive the bus, since they're all actors. Working together in the largest soundstage ever built. One large show on 24 hours a day, displaying Truman's every move. Every thought. And at the helm of this counterfeit town is the creator, Christof. His idea is to capture the life of an ordinary person, all day, every day. Everyone loves the show. People leave their TV's on all night for the comfort of Truman's presence. Thats why Carreys peformance is important. You feel the sympathy for his character. Understand his predicament. So Truman Decides to leave his pleasant town for Figi. Where he was told, that his only love had to move. But Christof doesnt want that. If Truman leaves, there goes his show. By the end of this movie, I felt cheated. I expected more. I wanted to see Truman, in all the years he spent in the camera's eye, how would he react in the real world? How would the world view him now that he is free from Christof's world? I wanted an act III. Despite the ending, The Truman Show was a very enjoyable movie. It has the comedy, drama and original story. Which makes it one of the best of that year.
Rating: 
Summary: Can all of life be fake?
Review: Spooky, profound and perhaps prophetic. Could the world we live in be Truman's world? Instead of Christof (or his predecessor, the Wizard of Oz) could there be aliens Out There running their TV show of us? We can't get out of this solar system. The sun is rigged Out There. Just as Truman could never sail to Fiji, no human can live long enough to transverse interstellar space to Alpha Centuri Proxima, the nearest star. Before the gods we must have demigods in the form of those looking over us, real or imagined. Does it make any difference? And as Christof says, we accept the reality that is given us, so we could be fooled. Anyway, "The Truman Show" begins with a startling premise marvelously presented. The script by Andrew Niccol is a work of art and the direction by Peter Weir sure-handed and seamless. He allows the story to unfold at a convincing pace and the fifties cum nineties TV Americana feel to the "Seahaven" sets is delightful. Jim Carrey is perfect as Truman Burbank, the poor sap in a fishbowl. Everything about his life, including his wife and best friend are totally fake (try that on for size). Ed Harris as the megalomanic TV artist Christof is creepy enough, although the scenes with him are ironically less convincing than those in Truman's world. I thought he came across a little too much like a mad scientist. Laura Linny as Carrey's TV wife/product spokesperson with the ever present TV smile is wonderful, and good too is his estranged girl friend, Natascha McElhone with the big eyes. Some unanswered questions. We know there is a camera in the bathroom. Do they switch to another shot when he is using it or does the world-wide audience watch him move his bowels? And is his wife a "whore" as well as a TV actress or is their relationship purely Platonic? Does the audience see them together in the bedroom? Does she have a life away from him? Weir chose not to address these questions. Although the premise looks a little messy when examined closely, the inspired and completely apropos ending is as crisp and clean as the dot at the end of this sentence.
Rating:
Summary: One of 1998's Top 5 Movies -- And a Very Good Year.
Review: Four out of the five movies nominated for the Best Picture Oscar of 1998 deserved to be there, in my opinion. Take out 'The Thin Red Line' and add in 'The Truman Show', and the Academy would have actually gotten the top lineup right. 'The Truman Show' is an exceptional movie, partly because it could have gone so wrong. The premise could easily come across as some episode off of "The Twilight Zone", and "everybody" knows that Jim Carrey in the lead role makes this a comedy. Well, it didn't turn out that way. Jim Carrey, in this movie, shows (once again) that he can do some excellent dramatic acting. His character has traces of Jim's wacko roles from the earlier movies that so many viewers define him by, but this works. Truman Burbank has been raised in a totally unnatural environment, and Jim Carrey shows the damage that this has caused in the character. He is like a bomb which can go off at any second, and which does go off during the course of the movie. Similarly, the rest of the movie succeeds by walking just at the edge of ludicrousness. The very careful handling of the story by director Peter Weir, and the restrained performance of Ed Harris and the rest of the cast keeps us at the very edge of our suspension of disbelief. The story is bizarre, but just within the realm of possibility for your mind to accept. The result is like an episode of "The Prisoner", directed by Frank Kapra.
Rating:
Summary: Simply, a masterpiece.
Review: Just amazing methaphore about life, reality, our fears, frustrations and struggle for redemption... Im speechless. Jim Carrey shines, Ed Harris is brilliant as excentric Cristof, Peter Weir does an excellent Job as director. Can't believe it wasn't even nominated for the Oscars, one of best films of 1998. And the ending is deeply emotional. Watch this movie!
Rating:
Summary: A True Original
Review: When I first saw this movie in the theater, I soon came to the realization that many of the viewers could not comprehend that Jim Carrey was starring in a dramatic role. They assumed that his innocence and happiness was the common Jim Carrey-goofiness, and unfortunately they overlooked the most brilliant aspect of Carrey's acting. Truman Burbank was brought up in a perfect world, and for this reason, Carrey portrays him as happy, yet not quite satisfied with his life. Every time Carrey smiles to his neighbors, his friends, or his wife, you can see a true emptiness within his eyes that only talented actors can produce. The Truman Show also has a wonderful supporting cast with the performances of Ed Harris, Laura Linney, and Natascha Mcelhone. My personal favorite was Laura Linney, who portrayed the perky wife/obsessed actress whose job it was to live with a man whom she couldn't stand, not to mention act as an advertiser for the show's sponsors. While the performances in the movie were superb, the plot undoubtedly unveils the greatness of this film. Packed full of philosophical inquiry and the realization that no one can be sure of the assumed truth around them, this film leaves the audience thinking about their own worlds long after they have left the theater or shut off the VCR. This kind of reaction to a movie does not happen often, and when it does, it is clear that the film is a true original.
Rating:
Summary: Personal Favorite from 1998
Review: The Truman Show easily is the best film from 1998. How it got ignored for Best Picture is beyond belief . . . here is a truly original and fascinating film, acting incredibly by Jim Carrey, and directed expertly by Peter Weir. The DVD isn't filled with many features and extras, but still-- the movie is definately worth owning.
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Escape Movie since *The Great Escape*
Review: Jim Carrey in a triumphant performance as a man living his life on an island surrounded by 'actors' who manipulate his life which is broadcast worldwide as a popular TV show. Ed Harris superbly plays the producer of this show. He creates a world in which the Truman character is trapped by his own fears. This premise produces the film's best satirical moments. For example Truman must be kept on the island, for the show to continue. So when Truman heads to a travel agency to inquire about an airline ticket to Fiji, there are posters of burning planes plummeting from the sky on the walls. Once Truman begins to figure out that his life is being manipulated, Carrey shines with a combination of poignancy, manicness, and a wide range of emotion. Truman faces a choice of freedom vs security, self-determination vs fate, and truth vs denial. This role proves that Carrey's sympathetic and vulnerable roles are funnier and stronger - much like his earlier role in *The Mask* or Bill Murray in *What about Bob?* or *Groundhog Day*, as opposed to just being obnoxious.
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