The Truman Show (5 Stars)

How many of you have had the feeling you were being watched? You might have been walking along a busy street or sitting alone in your room when you felt like someone was looking at you. Don't worry, it's quite natural, as long as it only happens occasionally. If you feel like that all the time it's paranoia.

Truman Burbank lives a normal life as an insurance salesman. But then he finds out that he's being watched by the whole world, 24 hours a day. He has no secrets. Everyone knows everything he has ever done since the day he was born. Unknown to him he is the star of the world's biggest reality show. Everyone he knows, including his parents, his wife and his friends, are actors paid to interact with him.

I've never watched any film as often as "The Truman Show". I first saw it on television in 1999 and taped it. For some reason it spoke to me at that point in my life. Over the next few months I watched it two or three times a week. Every time I watched it I looked at the film from different angles and enjoyed it more.

If anything, the film is even more relevant now than it was when it was made. Reality shows were still new in 1998; today they have taken over television. They are relatively cheap to make. They don't need highly paid actors, they just need normal people who will appear on screen for almost nothing. Reality shows satisfy the voyeuristic lusts of the general public, whether it's "Big Brother" or "The Osbournes". In 1998 "The Truman Show" was an outlandish piece of fiction, today it's very feasible.

This was Jim Carrey's first role in a serious film. He's still considered a comedy actor, but his non-comedy films are better. "The Truman Show", "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", "The Majestic", "Number 23", "Man on the Moon". All are brilliant and unforgettable films. Special mention should be made of Ed Harris, who plays Christof. This is the best film of his career. Una Damon also shines in her role as his assistant Chloe.

Click here to view the trailer.