The 90s were the decade of Jim Carrey. In 1994, he starred in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask and Dumb and Dumber – all three successful comedies that exceeded expectations at the Box Office. From there, he was on a trajectory of continued success, releasing Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, The Cable Guy and Liar Liar in subsequent years. Jim Carrey was the guy who got people in seats at the movie theater with his unique brand of manic, zany comedy. However, after all these comedic hits, Carrey sought to prove himself a dramatic actor. For The Truman Show, Carrey settled on a significant pay cut in order to get his shot. The Truman Show was the perfect vehicle to present a more grounded Carrey to the world – it still contained plenty of humor for him to work off of and also gave him a chance to tap into a vulnerable side of himself that for some reason comedians are really good at getting to.

Truman Burbank’s life is not what he thinks it is. Taken at birth, Truman was raised in a dome facility that is designed as the fictional Seahaven Island, where the world around him is manufactured for him and every moment of his life can be recorded on thousands of tiny hidden cameras so audiences can tune in at any time of day. The show’s creator, Christof, controls everything that happens in Truman’s life from a booth above the stage and purposely sets things in motion in order to curb Truman’s desire of exploration, such as giving him a fear of water by witnessing his “father” die in a sea storm. Through a flashback, we see Truman’s time in college and how he falls in love with an extra named Sylvia, despite the story requiring to meet his future “wife”, Meryl. He and Sylvia meet in secret whenever they can, but just when Sylvia is about to tell him the truth about the show, Sylvia is whisked away and never returns to the show. Back in the present, a series of strange incidents occur that cause Truman to question his reality, such as a rain cloud that follows only him and a spotlight that falls from the top of the dome. In one instance, Truman sees the man who played his father and rushes over to him, but the traffic of the island’s citizens prevents him from getting close. Truman breaks and holds Meryl at knifepoint in an attempt to get someone to react. Meryl breaks character and is written out of the show. Shortly after, Truman begins to sleep in his basement every night, behavior that Christof finds suspicious, and so Truman’s best friend, Marlon, is sent over to his house, but upon his arrival, discovers Truman is not there, having escaped through a tunnel he has dug. By the time the crew has located Truman, he is on a boat, having conquered his fear of water, trying to escape. Christof orchestrates a severe storm, nearly drowning him, but Truman remains determined and continues on his quest until the ship crashes into the wall of the dome. Following the wall, Truman eventually sees a staircase leading to a door. Christof, in a last-ditch effort to retain Truman, speaks over the intercom, claiming the world he has built for Truman is better than the outside one. Truman bows to the audience and walks out the door.

There is so much to love about this movie. Jim Carrey passes, with flying colors, his test to prove his dramatic chops. He’s lovable and a solid Everyman, something I’m sure most people didn’t believe he could do after seeing Dumb and Dumber. And Peter Weir takes a very science fiction-y concept and makes it human. In fact, I’d argue The Truman Show is as good as it is because it’s incredibly relatable. Everyone has moments, even if they’re fleeting, where they question whether the world they live in is real or not – either from a place of suspicion or disappointment. And with the introduction and rise of reality television (which has frequently been criticized as scripted), the lines between fiction and reality are more greatly blurred.

Bonus Review: Forrest Gump

Come on, you know this movie. The infinitely quotable, highly rewatchable Forrest Gump is both a critique and love letter to times gone by. Tom Hanks stars as the Southern man who sits on a bench, explaining his life story to anyone who will listen. He tells of his stumbling through big moments in American history between the 50s and the 90s, recounts his love for the ill-fated Jen-nay, and passes along the evergreen wisdom of his mother. It’s a movie that’s simultaneously unbelievable and completely human, walking a fine line that causes it to have both legions of fans and fiery critics alike.

Forrest Gump is a simple man. As a boy, he was forced to wear leg braces due to a curved spine. He meets and becomes fast friends with a girl named Jenny, who is sexually abused by her father. One day, while being attacked by bullies, Jenny tells Forrest to run, Forrest, run and as he does, the leg braces come off, and he discovers himself to be a speedy little guy. He goes to college on a football scholarship, playing for the (eww) Crimson Tide, gets on the All-American team and meet JFK. After college, Forrest enlists in the Army and befriends Bubba, another simple man with an unhealthy obsession with shrimp. While out on patrol in Vietnam, Forrest’s platoon is attacked and he is shot in the buttocks, but he still is able to rescue several of his men, including Bubba and their Lieutenant, Dan. Bubba dies of his wounds, however, and Lieutenant Dan laments being rescued because all of his family prior died bravely in their war efforts, and now, he ain’t got no legs. While Forrest Gump recovers from his injury, he gets all the ice cream he could ever want and becomes a ping pong wizard. He plays at an international level and his success leads him to receive an invitation from Richard Nixon to have a room at the Watergate hotel where he calls up the desk to complain about some guys flashing their flashlights in one of the nearby buildings. Using his ping pong money, Forrest buys a shrimping boat and Lieutenant Dan becomes his first mate. They are the only boat to survive a hurricane, so they get all the shrimp and turn the profits into the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Dan invests their money into Apple Computers, making them both filthy rich, but Forrest goes home to take care of his dying mother. Over the course of his years, Forrest runs into Jenny randomly and Forrest falls in love with her. Jenny however rebuffs him, and so he decides to run across country for years until one day he decides to just stop. He receives a letter from Jenny asking him to come visit, and he does so, learning of a son they have from a night together several years back and that Jenny is dying of AIDS. With what brief time she has left, Jenny finally agrees to marry Forrest and they return to his home in Greenbow, Alabama until she passes away. Forrest is left to raise his son alone.

What else is there to say? This movie can be overly sentimental at times, sure, but it’s still a sweet story. I think everyone can find something to be entertained by in it, whether it’s the quick history lesson, the love story, or the fantastic soundtrack (I blame Forrest Gump for making every Vietnam-related movie require “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival as part of its soundtrack). I’ve read some critical analysis of the film that portrays it in a negative light, but beyond that, I don’t know of a single person who doesn’t like Forrest Gump.