| A good movie that doesn't quite gel | 1fatts 03/31/2007 |
The elements are all here, and it is a professonal job. Weir directs; Ed Harris was up for an oscar; a solid performance from Laura Linney and Jim Carrey plays confused without going over the top.
And the script is everyone's paranoid fantasy brought to life.
It is enertaining, amusing, more-or-less satisfying, and has a couple of nice scenes taking advantage of good production values.
Then why isn't it better than this? Why isn't this allegory of the central question in so many lives -- isn't there more to me than this? -- more moving? more challenging? more significant?
I think the director sets the mark rather lower than he might have. Carrey is fine, but not better than fine. There are levels of shading that the actor doesn't bring and the director doesn't seek. Ed Harris' final confrontation with Truman, which should be man facing his creator, falls flat because Carrey isn't man enough and Harris' creator isn't high enough.
Still, a good film and well worth a few hours of your time. But one of those films where you wonder what someone else who was willing to take a few more chances could have made of this. |
PG, 104 min.
