After dominating the box office throughout the 1990s as the rubber-faced star of several smash hit comedies, towards the turn of the millennium Jim Carrey began to take his career in a different direction by tackling serious dramatic roles. Not only did he prove himself to be a more than capable performer in the right project, but he also nabbed consecutive Golden Globes for Best Actor in 1999 and 2000.
The first of those came via The Truman Show, which is still regarded as one of the 59 year-old’s best ever movies. Peter Weir’s thoughtful and insightful darkly comedic drama remains relevant even 23 years after it was first released, and it’s arguably more prescient now than at any point during its existence given that millions of people are more than happy and willing to document their entire lives for all to see through social media and other platforms.
Of course, Jim Carrey‘s Truman Burbank was completely unaware that he was the star of his own reality series, and blissfully went about his life until he began to unravel his own existence. The Truman Show was a massive hit, and it earned $264 million against a $60 million budget before going on to secure Academy Award nominations for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor.
Many industry insiders and analysts were shocked that it was shut out when it came to Best Picture and Best Actor, especially when 1999 saw the equally divisive Shakespeare in Love and Life is Beautiful‘s Roberto Benigni win the respective trophies. But with The Truman Show now streaming for free on YouTube Movies, you can revisit it anytime you’d like and watching it on the world’s most popular video-sharing service might even give it an added layer of immersion.