Cast:

Peter Weir
Jim Carrey, Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich,
Natascha McElhone, Holland Taylor, Ed Harris,
Brian Delate, Una Damon, Paul Giamatti, Philip
Baker Hall, Peter Krause, John Pleshette, Heidi
Schanz, Blair Slater, Ted Raymond

I was a big fan of Jim Carrey's back before he was on
tv in The Duck Factory. He was doing stand up
comedy which featured some decent jokes but what
was amazing were his impressions- one in particular.
He'd start by tapping his foot and without using his
voice he'd perfectly imitate the cast of My Three Sons.
Ernie, Chip, Uncle Charlie and even Fred MacMurray
all by unhinging his jaw and contorting the muscles of
his face.

Nobody was more excited than me when he turned up
in the cast of In LIving Color. Finally, he was given a
large enough venue to show the world how talented he
was. And week after week he did. It eventually led to a
hugely successful movie...Ah yes, the movies.

When Jim Carrey's film career began he and I had to
"part ways". Though his movies made truckloads of
money I found them to be too broad for my taste- and
by ‘broad' I mean: Pretty damn stupid! (with sugar on
it). The Mask was originally a bitingly witty comic
book series with a completely different tone than the
flaccid movie adaption. I was unable to watch anymore
than 20 minutes of Dumb & Dumber. In an interview
Carrey admitted, as I suspected, that Ace Ventura 2
had no script. Everyday he'd arrive on the set and say
to himself, "They're paying me $20 million. The
cameras are rolling. Think of something funny! Think of
something funny!"

The only one I was able get any enjoyment out of was
Batman Forever (in which he stole the show) and that
couldn't really be considered ‘HIS' movie.

Enter The Cable Guy.

The Cable Guy featured a plot with twists, a good
script, a message (despite itself) and some good gags
that didn't solely rely on his unfilled Ridlin prescription.
Best of all, Carrey's chaotic energy was focused into
playing a demented character with enough dimension to
remind me of several people I knew in high school. Just
as I'd declared the art of making good comedies dead,
The Cable Guy served me up a hot crow sandwich
(followed by dessert ala The Nutty Professor). Me
and the missus liked it even better the second time. It
also managed to bring lovers of dark comedies
everywhere over to the Jim Carrey bandwagon. In
short, The Cable Guy was successful in every
way...except one, financially.

Carrey's salary was $20 million while the movie only
made $12 million. I'm not strong in math but I think that
means it was a flop. According to entertainment
reporters and media analysts, "The fans thought the
movie was too dark! Carrey should forget drama and
return to his old comedy!" Huh, imagine that. A
‘mandate' that a performer stick to schtick rather than
expand himself as an artist. Go figger.

I researched why this turn of events happened and was
able to reach only one logical conclusion. As it turns out
there are two phylum of Jim Carrey fan: 1) Those who
liked The Cable Guy and (2) Morons ... Sorry. Let's
say ‘mentally challenged'- and the ratio was nearly 6 to
1. Fortunately, Jim Carrey's next movie was Liar!
Liar!. That movie was both ‘stupid' and ‘smart' in the
best possible way. It won back all of his old fans and
held on to his new ones. His career was ‘saved'.

So, what does any of this have to do with The Truman
Show? I'll explain that in a minute.

There's no need for me to tell you that The Truman
Show is good, you've already heard that at least twenty
times or more. You've probably also heard it compared
to Forrest Gump and that Jim Carrey does some
Oscar-caliber dramatic acting.

Hmmn...I would definitely say it's a great movie but the
other two?...I don't know. Rather than Forrest Gump,
the movies I would shelve it next to would be
Robocop, Man Bites Dog and Brazil - three of the
best written, well constructed, disturbing and
nauseatingly cynical movies I've ever seen.

The Truman Show is the story of Truman Burbank,
who, at age 30 has not realized that his entire life has
been broadcast as a tv show. His entire environment is
a city-sized, dome- shaped tv studio and all of his
friends and loved ones are actors- who stop every so
often to hawk the sponsors products.

While this is all handled light-heartedly at first, as the
story continues you find out more things that don't sit so
well; Like the fact that Truman was actually adopted by
a corporation from an unwed mother. They used
intense trauma and manipulation to keep him from
wanting to leave his ‘hometown'. Truman doesn't catch
on that his world is artificial because, frankly, he's never
had anything to compare it to. The worst thing about all
of this is that the citizenry approve of it, not because it's
a tv show...but because Its the most popular TV
show in America!!

Like the three movies I mentioned earlier, I couldn't
help but respect The Truman Show, despite feeling ill
from the cynical distopia it presented. After the denial
wore off I had to accept that it WAS our world, and
closer than you think. I would refer you to the new
trend in websites: A camera continuously broadcasts
the actions, no matter how mundane, of the site's host.
Better still, look to Fox's Police: Scariest Car Chases
or the highly rated Jerry Springer, especially before it
became faux-fight night. Our voyeurism is out of the
closet and is successfully integrating itself to our desire
to be entertained.

Exiting the movie, I was reminded of how I felt the first
time I saw Chuck Heston come upon the half buried
Statue of Liberty in Planet of The Apes or discover
that Soylent Green was made of people.

Just as lightning struck and knocked a rack of
chemicals onto police scientist Barry Allen and
transformed him into the fastest man alive, The Flash!,
in a similar phenomenon, Dead Poets Society director
Peter Weir turned hyperactive, gonzo comedian Robin
Williams into an Oscar nominated (eventually winning)
dramatic actor.

I'm sure you also know that a few months later, an
identical accident turned Barry's nephew Wally into
Kid Flash, with the same powers. The Truman Show
is also directed by Peter Weir and it's star, hyperactive,
gonzo comedian is...well, not quite Kid Flash.

Carrey's acting is definitely good, but he plays Truman
as something of a 1950's goofball. It fits the story well
and is very effective at keeping you off balance but it
doesn't define his dramatic range at all. For that the
best barometer still is Doing Time on Maple Drive.

If you've been paying attention you should have several
questions on your mind right now: "What's gonna
happen when the old fans and parents take their kids to
see this movie?" "Dramatic and dark? Didn't they learn
from The Cable Guy?" "How can this movie
succeed?"....Thank you. Now, these are good
questions.

Consider this: The movies I review I usually see 3 days
to 2 weeks before their release date. The Truman
Show I saw 2 MONTHS AGO and I'd been reading
reviews a whole month before...a lot of reviews!

This studio isn't stupid. They've learned from the past
and are insuring that there's enough good word of
mouth to make the populace ‘like' the picture before
they even see it. Maybe the method isn't as crass or
over-inflated as those used to hype Godzilla, but it's
still pure marketing and manipulation and I, for one,
refuse to be a part of it...
....Well, okay, maybe this once...
....I honestly do think it's a Must-See movie...
....It's possibly the best movie you'll see this
summer...and I realize that ain't saying much, but
The Truman Show does...
...It speaks volumes