In this film review by Roger Ebert, he takes freedom as the starting point and gives an in-depth interpretation of "Truman's world", and in the second half of the review, Roger once again mentions "entertainment to death", which also runs through many of Hugo's works.

"In Hugo's works, we can always feel the kind of ridicule and teasing of entertainment to death, from 'The Seven Deadly Sins' to 'L.A. Confidential' to 'Perfection', these works can clearly see the film's critique of entertainment to death, and this time 'Truman's World' directly turned this criticism into a burlesque show, staged with great momentum.

When the entertainment industry has developed to the extreme, even a fresh vitality has become an entertainment media carrier, and interest groups have begun to play the role of God, fiddling, manipulating, and driving a life, making this life full of countless lies an entertainment product, changing a person's fate under the banner of 'perfect life', and forcibly imposing this life on a person.

Not only cruel, not only cold-blooded, not only perverted, but also arrogant, arrogant, arrogant.

In 'Truman's world', the object of people's entertainment is no longer a lifeless material carrier, but a living human being, playing with a human emotion, thoughts, and concepts in applause. It's not just chilling, it's infuriating, because what does that mean? It means the next ...... to become the object of entertainment It could be you, it could be me, it could be any ordinary person. As long as it is profitable, our daily lives can become objects of entertainment.

How terrible.

What's even more terrifying is that the movie gives a bloody ending: Truman escapes from Paradise Island, and the show is finally over, but the audience doesn't feel anything - the object who has been with them for thirty years is gone, and their next step is 'What else is the show?' That's the saddest thing, because we've been victims of entertainment to death, and we don't realize it at all.

Because going out is never easy, whether it is real or fictional, when we gradually get used to everything around us, get used to our own life, and then let us accept new things, the process is bound to be extremely difficult. Change is never easy, it's like let's step out of our own safety zone and try something challenging, everyone will feel uneasy, everyone will feel fear. Therefore, more people will choose to retreat, hold back, honestly guard their comfortable life, and are unwilling to make changes.

Not to mention Truman? It's not just change, it's his life, it's his world, it's his life, but he's leaving this realm, going into the unknown, into an ambiguous place where 'Truman Burbank' doesn't have any meaning. This courage is definitely more than just words. One step away, but life is turned upside down!

Look at those TV viewers who stick to their comfortable lives, Truman, who left Paradise Island, has done what ordinary people cannot, and this yearning and pursuit of freedom has sublimated the whole movie.

In Hugo's resume, "glory to death" is a label that no one can ignore, Hugo with the spirit of glory to death, reawakened the seeds of rock and roll faith, and completely changed the course of the entire music history, and today, "Truman's world" has brought the spirit of "freedom to death", and throughout, the idea of desperate for the pursuit of freedom is like the vitality in the spring breeze, awakening a pool of stagnant cold society.

This is not the first time Hugo has expressed such emotions, and I believe it will not be the last. In the midst of the imminent wave of entertainment to death, Hugo is screaming hoarsely: 'Freedom or death'!

Do you hear that? ”

Roger's film review is sprinkled, vigorous, and immense, almost evaluating "Truman's World" as a contemporary epic, in fact, it is not far off, Roger said in a short recommendation, "I really enjoy watching a comedy drama film like 'Truman's World', I like this movie as much as 'Forrest Gump' - because Truman is a good man, honest and easy to touch, but beautiful enough to be desirable." ”

Roger compared this work with "Forrest Gump", which obviously raised "Truman's world" to a whole new level, comparable to a recommendation with a full score of 100 and a full star of four stars, which also made everyone have more expectations for "Truman's world".

From the New York Times to the Chicago Sun, the film reviews have far exceeded expectations, and as a comedy film, it is even more incredible. Similarly, the Los Angeles Times, the representative media of the West Coast, led by Nicholas McClen, also gave a perfect score of 100 points, which is the third consecutive perfect score in the first batch of comments in "Truman's World"!

Unlike the other two professional film critics, Nicholas's point of view is relatively less professional, but the angle is also more interesting.

"'Truman's World' is a comedy, there is no doubt about it, but as a comedy, this work transcends Charlie Chaplin's 'modern era' and not only reflects the characteristics of the entire era, but also deeply explores the serious problems of society. From the fear of entertainment to death, to the fear of losing freedom, to the fear of blurring the line between reality and illusion, and finally to the fear of losing the meaning of life, the social darkness rooted in social indifference and from the supremacy of profit has been taken to the extreme in this story, even if it is an artistic drama film, it is difficult to reach such heights, but 'Truman's World' has done it.

What's even more interesting is that it is precisely because this is a comedy, an absurd comedy, that this deep wave of ideas is excavated to the extreme. 'Truman's World' is one step closer than 'Modern Times', digging into the roots of social problems and telling a moving story from a delicate and authentic perspective, filled with humor and lightheartedness, but sparking a storm of reflection.

There is always a kind of black humor that borders on absurdity throughout the film, and many times it makes people laugh and cry, and the sense of absurdity brought about by that fallacy is almost a model of black comedy, whether it is Meryl's fake smile like a mask, or the repeated untimely and exaggerated advertising insertions, all with strong mockery, bringing the comedy style to the extreme.

As a comedy, this is undoubtedly amazing! At the same time, it uses this contrast of black humor to bring about a frenzy of reflection, creating a depth far beyond the drama film with strong contrast. This reminds us of a classic masterpiece: 'Forrest Gump'.

is also a comedy, the same plot, the same social epic, and the two works are also absolute masterpieces! But "Truman's World" goes further than "Forrest Gump", and further excavates and explores the core on the basis of comedy, making the movie truly a classic masterpiece that is difficult to compare. On this level, the 'Truman's World' is even better.

In this movie, Hugo, who starred in comedy for the first time, once again amazed everyone, and he performed the role of Truman almost perfectly! Hugo's performance incorporates some slightly exaggerated and deliberate movements, echoing Nicole Kidman's Barbie mask, while Hugo also incorporates some innocent and romantic childlike temperament, making the character very natural and convincing.

During the growth of the whole character, Hugo showed Truman's psychological transformation vividly, and the handling of several important scenes, which seemed to bring out a little bit of uncontrol and despair, completely brought out the effect of the absurd black comedy, and at the same time perfectly interpreted this appalling story, bringing the audience into Truman's world little by little.

Different from the delicate and rich performances in works such as "Death Row Walk" and "Los Angeles Confidential", Hugo's more relaxed and exaggerated performance in this performance has a funny clown style, while maintaining Hugo's unique layered performance, making Truman Burbank a real existence in our lives and becoming ourselves.

Not only Hugo, but under the leadership of Hugo, Nicole Kidman and Alexander Lorraine have given the most wonderful performances of their careers, whether it is Nicole's delicate and porcelain doll-like wife image, which perfectly brings black irony to the extreme; or Alexander's image of a friend who is moved by sincere friendship but is in torment, which truly brings the audience into the movie and makes the plot of the movie complete. Even Ed Harris, who played Christopher, gave a performance that surpassed 'Apollo 13'!

Even if we imagined that 'Truman's World' would be a masterpiece, even if we imagined that Hugo would give a wonderful performance again, when we sat in the cinema and watched this movie for real, we couldn't help but sigh: he, once again, did it again, and once again gave us a standing ovation with an absolutely wonderful performance, expressing the highest respect in our hearts.

This is Hugo, the Hugo who never disappoints us, the Hugo who always surprises, and the Hugo who always makes art valuable. This is Truman's world, this is our world, Truman went out, and what about us? ”

Nicholas's film review analyzes "Truman's World" from the perspective of comedy and actors, and gives praise in all directions, it can be said that all aspects have been affirmed, and the full score evaluation has pushed this praise to the peak.

From New York to Chicago to Los Angeles, the three major media outlets in the Eastern, Central and West Coast of North America unanimously praised "Truman's World", and after the premiere, the first reviews came to make the International Children's Day on June 1 a lively and vigorous kick-off of the 1998 summer season!