June 7, 1998 -- There aren't many original ideas coming out of Hollywood these days, but "The Truman Show" is one of them.

The movie is about Truman Burbank (played by Jim Carrey), a man who is unwittingly the star of an ongoing, live television show. His every action is televised by hidden cameras and he is surrounded by actors in the world's largest studio, who help manipulate his emotions to achieve high ratings and to make money for sponsors, all of whom make money through product placement.

The story is filled with ironies about product placement, about the ruthless commercialization of every aspect of American life, about the loss of privacy and the prevalence of mendacity. There is rich satire in the film and smart dialogue. The story is far-fetched, but daring.

My only problem with the film is that perhaps it plays its hand a bit too soon. When you know none of the human relationships in the film (except one) is real, the film loses much of its drama. The only question becomes when does Truman get to leave the studio and enter the real world, not if, but when.

Nevertheless, Carrey makes Truman into a very interesting character. He's brilliant in the film, and Ed Harris (Apollo 13, The Rock) shines as Christof, the evil genius behind the show. Other than those two, however, the characters in the movie are uninteresting. Truman's true love, Sylvia (Natascha McElhone), could have been interesting, but she's on screen only briefly.

The idea of the film is brilliant and it is full of clever ideas and funny, satirical bits and it has a dynamite ending, but I found it curiously cool, passionless and lacking in energy. Still, it is well worth seeing. It appeals to that part of all of us that wishes our lives would have some wider significance beyond ourselves. It rates a B+.

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