The Truman Show (1998)

Director: Peter Weir

Cast: Jim Carrey, Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Natascha McElhone

Have I Seen it Before: Oh, yes. The summer of 1998 was one of those summers where I diligently saw everything on tap. I remember so clearly going to see this one with some friends. I arrived on time, but later than everyone else. While they grabbed seats, I grabbed popcorn for myself. When I returned, the movie had started. I couldn’t find my friends, and eventually had to give up and find a seat. It took a solid five minute to realize I had wandered into the wrong theater, which was currently about an hour into running the film. So, that first day I saw the scene where Truman (Carrey) is reunited with his father (Brian Delate) twice.

Did I Like It: And the film worked pretty well in both contexts then, and it ages insanely well today. It’s nearly impossible to peg this as a 90s film, and indeed could have been produced (with maybe some slightly tweaked special effects in just a few spots) ten years early or ten years later. It may be the most ageless summer comedy ever produced.

It’s the perfect vehicle for a Carrey looking to diversify his image from the broadest possible comedies and Batman villains*. Allowing Carrey to occasionally indulge in his instincts, but ultimately needing a fully-fleshed out performance to deliver a real story, it’s the perfect stepping stone between The Cable Guy (1996) and Man on the Moon (1999)**.

Ultimately, though, it is that thing that was rare enough in its day and is almost unheard of today: a big Hollywood movie with some ideas. I remember that day after my friends and I had seen it the first time (while I saw it 1.25 times). On the way home we talked about free will, and the inclination of powers greater than us to thwart the exercise of free will. It was heady talk for a smattering of 14-year-olds. I can reassure you we didn’t have anything like the same conversation on our way out of Armageddon (1998).

*Not that there is anything wrong with either of those things. I happen to like both of those things a great deal.

**Again, two things I happen to enjoy a great deal.

Mr. Holmes (2015)

Director: Bill Condon

Cast: Ian McKellen, Laura Linney, Milo Parker, Hiroyuki Sanada

Have I Seen it Before: Never. It’s been a sealed Blu Ray sitting on my shelf for years. As it stood, I made a conscious decision to avoid any and all Holmes pastiches, as I was busy making my own. Now, with that project nearly a year behind me, and God only knows when I will break down and return to it in some fashion, I’ve taken the opportunity to dip my toe back in the pool.

Did I Like It: Really, quite a bit. The character of Holmes is almost universally depicted as being a refined alloy of logic and ability. Even Doyle only occasionally made his detective human. The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976) gives him some foibles, but this is the first (and last, given his age) we see the man as someone with regret and feeling for his fellow human beings. 

McKellan cuts a believable figure at various stages of Holmes as an older man. Surely some of it is aided by makeup, but it is subtle work and I believe the man in his seventies is a distinctly different figure than what he is like at his nineties. A lot of it is in the performance. He is spry and vital in the film’s flashbacks, and withered and struggling during the main storyline. It’s an impressive performance. Eagle-eyed fans of the Sherlockana will pick up on Nicholas Rowe—of Young Sherlock Holmes (1985) fame—as Holmes in the movie old Sherlock takes in. Two Sherlocks for the price of one. You’d have to go to, well, my own work to get that kind of a bargain.

But the question persists: is it a good Sherlock film. Seeing the old man passing his time as bee-keeper is interesting enough as a character study, but sleuthing must be afoot if we’re going to spend time with him, no? I’m happy to report the mystery is quite good, but again, of a more personal nature. It doesn’t artificially insert him in his retirement into palace intrigue, it just puts what is left of his skills to the test and believably sells the tension of the story.

It will read strangely, but I am glad I waited to finally see this one. Had I watched it before The Fourth Wall, it may have stymied my creative instincts. As it stands now, I was able to take in the story on its own terms and instead just enjoy it.