The Truman Show (1998)

A show so true man its terrifying
Jim Carrey's Truman Burbank has so many real life comparisons in this thought provoking film. Hidden cameras have been reported to be installed on every street in London. Big Brother, 1984, and it should make you stop to think how many few of your every day transactions have any privacy from perfect strangers.

Fantastic, an underrated classic. Incredible film
This film might be a little young to be a classic, but at nine years old it hasn't aged a minute.

It's an incredible exploration of the human psyche and spirit, to be sure, but it's also a love story. The love story is between Truman Burbank and his true self. In his trueness to himself, he cannot accept this reality as presented by Christof. When he starts trying to escape it, things and people start to look more transparent, and he begins to see illusions everywhere.

It all starts with a stage light dropping out of the sky onto the street. Whoops! As he is given more and more clues, he starts trying new unpredictable things and observing the towns response. This escalates and it becomes truly fascinating.

His obsession with Lauren, or Sylvia as it were, -is- just a little creepy, yes, but just how anyone would respond to being put in this situation is completely up for debate. Just what is the "correct" way to respond to this situation anyway? Remember he was born into it. This is his whole life.

Christof's response to his escape attempt is indicative of his mindset: Truman is a Christof production--that is, Christof owns him. There was never any doubt that Truman's spirit would overcome everything that'd been programmed into him, because this is the story of a man who refuses to be a product. To be owned. To be a slave. "You don't have cameras in my mind!"

I saw this for the first time when it came out, and it has remained one of my favorite movies of all time. I found the ending to be stunning, watching this illusion fall like a house of cards is almost spiritual. There are no fancy special effects (other than the aerial view of the Truman's set; any other effects are quite transparent,) no out of control self-indulgent fanciness, no blockbusterism present at all. Merely solid craft work and an incredibly well done story.

That's all it needs. If you haven't already, see it.

Great idea for a film
When this came out, it was unique. I'd never seen anything like it. It was basically a film and filming a TV show. It sounded weird and almost Sci-fiish, but it was none of those things. It was actually a really good movie. Jim Carrey is perfect in this. It gives him the chance to really shine as an actor, combining the comedic and the dramatic to get an extrememly likable character. Its his best role, in my opinion. And, honestly, he is the reason to see this film because I don't think it would be as interesting with another actor. I really liked the soundtrack to this film as well, it was very moving at times. The rest of the cast also did a fantastic job. The utopian scenery blends in perfectly into this film and makes it all the more interesting. Its a great and differnt type of film that should be seen by all. It never strays too much in the goofiness arena, and is always endearing and believable.