Beauty vs Beast: Burbank in the Bubble
Monday, August 21, 2017 at 1:26PM Jason from MNPP here - just this morning I wished director Peter Weir (one of my favorites) a happy 73rd birthday on my own site, and it struck me that hitting up his 1998 classic The Truman Show (which at almost 20 years old can rightly be considered a "classic" now, can't it? God I am old) would make for a very fine installment of our "Beauty vs Beast" series. On the left we have Jim Carrey's second greatest performance as the manic man in the bubble Truman Burbank, and on the right we have one of Laura Linney's funniest supporting turns as his pretend wife turned hostage Meryl. And I know you all lean Lovely Linney (as a religion) but it's awfully hard to root for Meryl if you ask me...
PREVIOUSLY I'm actually a little bit surprised that you guys gave last week's Strangers on a Train competion to Farley Granger's Guy over Robert Walker's Bruno with 56% of the vote - Walker's sinister flamboyance is like oxygen to me personally! Said forever1267:
"That is a toughie, as this might be my favorite Hitchcock. I went with Team Guy, who's delusional in not reciprocating Bruno's desires, at least in the bedroom, but not at the carnival. Naughty Naughty! Ruth Roman is just sort of there, but Patricia Hitchcock and Teresa Wright should have teamed up to make a movie together where they solve mysteries while going Boy Crazy! Make it retro so!"
Reader Comments (8)
While it is completely true I adore the Lovely Laura Linney I just can't go with her Meryl since poor Truman is a clueless dupe to all those people. Sorry Laura!
Team Truman, more appropriate Team Weir. Give us another classic please Peter. You can't end it on The Way Back.
Wasn't the real Meryl slightly annoyed that they named the annoying, saccharine, fake actress character Meryl? I could have been big but she stole all the roles.
Laura Linney in The Truman Show, 1998: Maybe the first time I can remember being truly baffled by someone's lack of Oscar buzz. Her "It's unprofessional" scene is a built-in Oscar clip!
This may be the only time I don't vote for Laura Linney
Laura all the way, always and forever.
He's manic. He's naive. He's crazy. He's innocent. He may even even be deluding himself. Can it really be anyone else?
Thank you for the Shout Out!
In a tough match, I'll go with Truman, if only for that deserved nomination Carrey should have gotten. But it is a tough call.