35: The Truman Show

Another 'what if' story: what would you be doing if you were Truman? What would make you sit up and think 'hang on, this isn't real'? And what is it about the world around you today that makes you sit up and think that?

And that's why it works - it's a human story, a good strong narrative but beyond that it raises so many questions at some many levels. All the way from 'what is reality' through 'how can it be ethical to adopt a baby and use a human life in this way?' right through to 'practically, how WOULD you prevent him trying to escape?' and even how you'd handle all the extras, where the holes in the system would be and what's the psychological relationship of Cristof to Truman? And if Kristoff is there, where's Olaf? (Sorry, wrong movie).

But the best way to watch it is just to watch it and enjoy a performance that you wouldn't have thought Jim Carrey was capable of, but as it turns out he's perfect for it: a huge over-actor, here he gets to over-act a dull 1950s straight-man and it suits him down to the ground.

If, of course, the ground is even real.