‘The Truman Show’ (1998)

Dave’s 3-Word Review
Deeply satisfying movie.

I think it’s about time that I review one of my all-time favorite Jim Carrey films. “The Truman Show” is actually more than one of my favorites, but it is a lot of people’s favorite Jim Carrey movie, period.  Let me review “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” one more time in order to tell you which one wins, but no matter what, this film is great. I knew that I loved it, but after watching it again, I realized why, and how deep it really is.

Truman Burbank is your average, everyday man going about life as any normal, average, everyday man would. He is also the star of the most popular show on television…ever. The only problem is, he has no idea he is the star. Thousands upon thousands of tiny video cameras have been capturing his life on tape every hour of every day on unedited live television. For years, he has been planning a secret trip to Fiji. He believes that Sylvia, the girl he met one day who captured his heart, moved there. What he didn’t know was that she was simply fired from the show after almost telling Truman the truth about his life.

Ever since that chance meeting, he has never forgotten about her, which is truly the heart of the film. A number of events cause Truman to question his very existence. He sees his dead father, controlled weather patterns that are made specifically to follow him, empty elevator shafts with a movie set instead of an elevator room, practically everything that happens around him begin to feel obvious as to something that is going on around him. More and more everyday, Truman attempts to find a way to escape the city, and more things happen to stop him.

There is many simple ideas behind this film, one of them being what if true love exists? You can’t force anyone to love anyone else. Life isn’t like the movies, love interests are in the eye of the beholder. You can control weather patterns, and you can manipulate a boy into fearing the water his whole life in order to keep him in the city, but there is one uncontrolled element, which so happens to be the most important element of all…free will. Truman himself. When you mix free will and love, you have a powerful and indestructible force.

The messages go on to have a unique view of imprisonment and even slavery, as it explores the ethics of showbiz. There is a louder than life message about the world of entertainment, and the lengths we will go to create something new and different. I saw the same message in “The Hunger Games” but it goes beyond that. Look at every isle of every grocery store, what do you see? Celebrity magazines that strive to let everyone know every last intimate detail of their lives that are none of anyone’s business. This film takes that, and brings it to a whole other place.

Jim Carrey has always had a way about him to bring chemistry to the screen, which rubs off with practically everyone that he works with. Somehow, he was able to bring life to a character that is hard to define with just words. This is not to say the other actors didn’t perform well because they did, but Carrey blew it out of the water. Ed Harris also did a magnificent job as Christof, the obsessed creator and director o the show that will go at any lengths to keep Truman on air, because he has the misconception that he is God.

Apart from being incredibly original and wonderfully acted, it was extremely powerful and smart when it came to the writing. Everything from the beginning to the end made this out-of-this-world dramedy seem real, and very possible. From the subliminal messages to the cleverly placed conversations that motivate Truman. It is intriguing and thought provoking, and it just comes off as manipulative, but you will have a hard time looking away. The one scene where Truman is talking to his best friend, and it cuts to the directors chair with Christof telling the best friend to say “The last thing I would ever do is lie to you” is an example of one of the powerful scenes.

Free will is the most powerful force on this planet, and that is portrayed pretty heavily in this film. I have yet to compare the score to “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, that oughta be interesting, because that is one of my (if not my) all time favorite Jim Carrey films.  We’ll see.

In case you don’t see me, good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight.