‘The Truman Show’ 25th anniversary: A ‘bracingly intelligent’ film that was ‘more than just entertainment’

One of the most acclaimed films of 1998 was Paramount Pictures’ “The Truman Show,” starring Jim Carrey, Laura Linney and Ed Harris. Written by Andrew Niccol and directed by Peter Weir, the movie tells of a 30-year-old man who slowly begins to realize his life is a TV show and he is the star. Released 25 years ago on June 5, 1998, “The Truman Show” was a commercial hit, making $125 million in the United States and $264 million worldwide, despite Carrey taking a career detour away from comedies into dramas. Read on for more about “The Truman Show” 25th anniversary.

Most of the nation’s critics praised the film, including Susan Stark in Detroit News, who said it’s “a bracingly intelligent, provocative and witty mix of entertainment values and long thoughts.” And Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, “The underlying ideas made the movie more than just entertainment. It brings into focus the new values that technology is forcing on humanity.”

With the stellar reviews and strong box office, “The Truman Show” looked to be a major awards player going into 1999. This movie was the project Carrey needed to put him in a new light for critics and audiences, and his warm reception at the Golden Globe Awards looked to signify his first Oscar nomination was coming. “The Truman Show” received six nominations there, including Best Director and Best Drama Picture, and Carrey won Best Drama Actor over people like Tom Hanks, Nick Nolte and Ian McKellan. His speech is legendary, with Carrey saying, “It’s going to be hard talking out of my ass after this.”

“The Truman Show” also won Best Original Score and Best Supporting Actor for Harris at the Globes, and it received WGA and DGA bids. The Screen Actors Guild Awards, however, snubbed it completely, which put the chances for both Carrey and Harris getting in at the Academy Awards in jeopardy. With the film’s release way back in June, and with big awards contenders like “Saving Private Ryan” and “Shakespeare in Love” receiving most of the buzz in early 1999, the question was how “The Truman Show” was going to shake out on Oscar nominations morning.

At the 71st Academy Awards, “The Truman Show” ultimately made it into three categories, big ones to be sure—Best Original Screenplay for Niccol, Best Director for Weir, and Best Supporting Actor for Harris. For many, Carrey’s snub for Best Actor was one of the year’s big surprises given he won the Golden Globe, but snobbery about his mega-successful comedies likely hurt him in getting his first Oscar nom, as it likely did in the years following for “Man on the Moon” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” While presenting the Academy Award for Best Film Editing at the 1999 ceremony, Carrey acknowledged his nomination omission for “The Truman Show,” shouting, “I have been beaten by Roberto Benigni! He has jumped into my ocean!”

I would argue the Oscar “The Truman Show” had the best chance in winning was Best Supporting Actor for Harris, given that he won the Golden Globe, and he came close to winning in the category three years prior for “Apollo 13.” But this was the year where “Affliction” wowed the critics, and James Coburn, who had never received an Oscar nomination before, won the Best Supporting Actor prize for his disturbing performance in the Paul Schrader drama.

Best Original Screenplay might have been a victory for “The Truman Show” if the category weren’t so competitive, with both “Saving Private Ryan” and “Shakespeare in Love” in the mix. Even “Life is Beautiful” might have been in contention given that the movie went on to win the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor for Roberto Benigni. Although Niccol did win the BAFTA Award for his screenplay, Academy voters went with Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard for “Shakespeare in Love,” which also took the Best Picture prize.

One category “The Truman Show” had a minuscule shot at winning was Best Director, although the nom for Weir shows there was great enthusiasm for the film from voters, and that if the movie had come out later in the year or if it had taken a few more prizes throughout awards season, maybe it could’ve done better at the Oscars. However, when it came to Best Director, Weir was just happy to be there because Steven Spielberg was always winning his second Academy Award in the director category that year for his incredible work on “Saving Private Ryan.”

Weir has only made two movies since “The Truman Show” — “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” and “The Way Back” — and Niccol has gone on to direct “Lord of War” and “In Time.” Carrey has to date never received an Oscar nomination, but he did win another Golden Globe for “Man on the Moon.” Harris has gotten two more Academy Award nominations in the years following for “Pollack” and “The Hours,” and he still has never won. The legacy for “The Truman Show” has endured for 25 years, the film’s stature seemingly growing throughout the decades. Jay Carr in Boston Globe called it “a bold, powerful, reverberant fantasy that nails the zeitgeist with enough thematic richness to carry us into and beyond the millennium,” and I couldn’t have said it better myself.

SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions