daveisit

This is far from your everyday movie, and only for those with a deep appreciation for the diversity of film-making, or fans of Hunter S. Thompson. This does not mean those mentioned will enjoy it, although definitely respect the attempt. I personally found it fascinating. To portray a permanently drug induced state to the big screen was done with creativity and subtle humour. You could expect nothing less from director Terry Gilliam who has played such a massive role in the brilliant and original Monty Python works.

Having never read any of Hunter S. Thompson's work, I get the impression that justice is done for the adaptation to the big screen. An absolutely quality cast must be credited for this, ensuring a natural performance is achieved. Las Vegas which features strongly throughout the movie seems to be so appropriate when dealing with this subject matter, they just seem to go hand in hand.

"The Truman Show" owes a lot to the direction of Peter Weir. Weir refuses to pump out the movies in a search for extra dollars. Instead he chooses wisely and directs brilliantly. Just by looking at a list of his movies will surprise and even amaze you. So as you would imagine "The Truman Show" is another success.

Truman Burbank has the perfect life, or so he thought until finally his life long suspicions about his world begin to unravel. Even though the idea for Truman is not totally original, it is thought provoking enough and allows the audience to wonder, what if? If you think this couldn't happen, just look back over the years at the stupidity of the human race and think again.

Jim Carrey once again nails his role, as do the entire cast. It is rare he fails to perform at a level that perfectly complements the movie and its genre. This is something he does not receive enough credit for. Acting for a comical role or a more dramatic role requires no less effort for the performance to be spot on.

Even though I am yet to see the original I find it highly unlikely this could be a better movie. The name Adam Sandler is possibly unfairly associated with movies involving the same old jokes and big punches and hits. Sandler isn't this one dimensional as movies like "Punch Drunk Love", and the romcom "The Wedding Singer" will attest. It bothers me that his comedy's are becoming fairly stagnant. This is fine if you are a huge Sandler fan, but if you are impartial to his work you will be losing interest quickly. Sandler needs to pop up with a few art-house serious roles, and evolve a little more with his own material.

The rest of the cast plod along with less than exciting performances. Perhaps my biggest problem was the way violence was deemed to be the resolution to all the problems. This may be the truth in the real world or it may be part of the movies humour, but I found it sickening.

I loved the table tennis table and ball.