The Truman Show
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: June 5, 1998 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
90
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Film.comTom Keogh
Achieves a kind of beauty through its overlaying enigmas, and Carrey.
70
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
A cool indictment of television's near-irresistible pandering to the inner peeping tom. Read full review
80
Film.comRobert Horton
A smart, engaging movie.
80
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Warm, affecting and refreshingly shtickless, he (Carrey) occupies center stage here through sheer, beguiling force of personality. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
It's unusually provocative and challenging for a Hollywood movie and, surprisingly, allows the audience to piece things together without too much external direction. Read full review
100
VarietyTodd McCarthy
A gemlike picture crafted with rare and immaculate precision. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Undeniably provocative and reasonably entertaining, The Truman Show is one of those high-concept movies whose concept is both clever and dumb. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Delicately subversive, hypnotically sardonic, full of terror, banality and wafer-thin lyricism. Read full review
90
TimeRichard Corliss
Hollywood's smartest media satire in years--and a breakthrough for Jim Carrey. Read full review
100
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
That rare cinematic experience-a movie so close to pure perfection that it seems a shame to spoil it by even reading a review beforehand. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Carrey is a genius at registering the rage behind television's sunny smile, while Laura Linney excels as his wife. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
An original, inspired piece of work. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverPeter Rainer
The film is a nightmare but an oddly comforting one. Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Weir's offbeat directing makes the most of Andrew Niccol's inventive screenplay, which includes large doses of surprisingly sardonic satire aimed at today's entertainment trends. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
I enjoyed The Truman Show on its levels of comedy and drama; I liked Truman in the same way I liked Forrest Gump--because he was a good man, honest, and easy to sympathize with. Read full review
100
NewsweekJeff Giles
A miraculous movie. It will rattle both your head and heart Read full review
100
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A beautifully sinister and transfixing entertainment-age daydream. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
The result is a rarity on any screen: intelligent fun. Read full review
88
USA TodayMike Clark
Funny... and the payoff is the most provocative Hollywood concoction in a while. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
An appealing, offbeat, one-hundred minute diversion for those who really are tired of monsters tearing down buildings and action heroes saving the world. Read full review
100
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
A sunny-looking movie about the darkest paranoia. Read full review
100
Film.comSean Means
A brilliant and daring film.
88
San Francisco ExaminerG. Allen Johnson
A crowd pleaser that caters to our horror of totalitarianism, our love of personal freedom, our belief - justified or deluded - that knowledge is a powerful tool and that access to information is a God-given right. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Adventurous, provocative, even daring. Read full review
80
SlateDavid Edelstein
A sharp-witted, visually layered, gorgeously designed, meticulously directed piece of formula pablum. Read full review
100
TNT RoughCutGraham Verdon
An exhilarating, fascinating story about the amazing and horrifying depth we are sinking toward as we strain to raise the entertainment bar another notch.
70
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
The film is unfortunately about little more than its potentially mind-boggling plot and structure. Read full review
100
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
The Truman Show is a reminder of the Beckett theme. The screenplay by Andrew Niccol starts from something like Beckett's abstraction and reifies it with details of contemporary culture, then moves on into fantasy. [June 29, 1998]
100
Washington PostRita Kempley
One of the smartest, most inventive movies in memory, it manages to be as endearing as it is provocative. Read full review
90
Mr. ShowbizMichael Atkinson
The Truman Show is one of the films for which the '90s will be remembered, and it is not to be missed. Read full review
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