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The Truman Show (1998)

Rate: 5
Viewed: 2/25

TrumanSh
2/25: The Truman Show is a longtime overrated film.

It has nothing on EDtv whose concept was ingenious and extremely funny and could happen for real. You see, Ed Pekurny signed a contract to have his life televised 24/7 while Truman Burbank was basically kidnapped and placed in a bubble which is 100% illegal. Forget the philosophical questions posed by The Truman Show...they are all ridiculous and coffee-table-like. Plus, barely anyone would watch it; otherwise, a channel of that nature would've existed today.

Jim Carrey has always been a terrible actor, especially in drama. He has no range and belongs in comedies, so he can do the stupid physical stuff and make faces. Then again, I've never thought of him as funny. Ed Harris plays a pretentious jackass who doesn't understand that the same thing can be accomplished if he has a family of his own; really, what he's out for is money, that's it. The rest of the cast is forgettable if not annoying.

What makes The Truman Show so boring is that it keeps going in circles with the protagonist trying to find a way out for days and days. But why now? What about five years ago? Ten years ago? When mistakes happen on the set, they aren't possible because the bubble is already self-contained, and therefore, all of the kinks have been worked out. Plus, if there are over 5,000 cameras everywhere, each one of them can be easily identified.

If Truman really, really wants a way out, he should've killed a few people. That way, the whole thing will immediately cease, and nobody will want to work there. Oh, Truman gets arrested and be tried for the murders? That will never happen because Truman has no concept of the U.S. laws and isn't aware of the country's existence, either. This means he'll be tried inside the bubble, but there's no courtroom because laws haven't been created or put on paper. Then, there's the illegality of trapping him inside a bubble in the form of slavery. So...epic fail!

All in all, given the same concept, EDtv offers a much more satisfying viewing experience than The Truman Show.