Four Word Film Review
Two-way mirror on life.
The Premise
Jim Carrey (Dumb and Dumber) stars as Truman Burbank, the unwitting subject of a television show revolving around - and named after - him. Running on the air to the rest of the world for over 10,000 consecutive days, The Truman Show is the brainchild of Andrew Niccol, hypothesizing the social impact of transmitting a life in its purest form to the masses through the medium of television.
As the principal character's name suggests, our hero - brilliantly portrayed by Carrey - is the only real character amongst a gigantic television set specifically designed to delude him into thinking that his life is real and normal. The show itself is a huge success, meticulously orchestrated to celebrate the moments of Truman's life by its creator Christof (Ed Harris), while overtly conducting product placements to derive revenues.
All is proceeding well in the show's fictional town of Seahaven, with Truman the money-maker remaining blissfully unaware of his lack of privacy until his actor-father, written off the show several years previously, sneaks back onto the set to try to see Truman again. Though immediately sloughed off-screen once again, this single event forces Truman to reconsider all of the curious events that have happened in his life - most importantly, the sudden disappearance of Lauren (Natascha McElhone), an old college flame.
The more Truman begins to investigate the world around him, the more he begins to believe in the wisdom of the old adage that "all the world is a stage and each must play his part". Further suspecting that his wife and best friend - expertly played by Laura Linney and Noah Emmerich respectively - are key players in this ruse, Truman becomes all the more determined to leave his world behind.
The onus is thus placed on Christof to convince/force his star to remain content through covert and subversive mechanisms, the struggle of which ultimately comes down to the strength of one man's desire to understand his own reality. This struggle will test the notion that fundamentally, people believe in the veracity of the world around them and therefore become creatures of their own perceptions - and not the dispassionate facts.
The Good
This is an enjoyable film that manages to combine entertainment with a certain amount of biting social commentary. Released in 1998, and loosely based on a Quebecois film, Louis le 19
e: le Roi des ondes, this movie does a decent job of showcasing the pitfalls of televising any one person's life to the rest of the world. All of the hate, love, bitterness and confusion that Truman feels is out there for every audience member to share and feel as well. They love him because they can relate to him. Ironically, it is for this very reason that they cheer for him to escape their very clutches. It is the catch-22 of all omnipotence style films and it is related to us well in this story.Additionally, one has to love the fact that the driving force behind Truman's desire to leave Seahaven is to try to meet up with Lauren once again. Even when he appears to be comfortable in the life around him, he remains discontented for having lost her. That type of passion is rarely so sweetly portrayed in films these days that it is a pleasure to watch it unfold here.
The Bad
There's not much bad here, but there is an over-emphasis on the omnipotence theme. We get it, the creator thinks that he is literally and figuratively some sort of deity. The extent to which this is rubbed in our faces is an insult to the deductive powers of the intended audience.
The Ugly
The major problem is the number of people that invade Truman's world from the outside. HE LIVES IN A DOME!!!! Yet this does not stop his father from returning undetected, or a parachutist from dropping in somehow, or man from popping out of his Christmas Tree. And no actor ever reveals his or her true identity - come on!!!
The Final Word
This is a good film, although I tend to go against most reviewers and between this and prefer the smaller budget EdTV (1999). This is the perfect type of movie to curl up with on a snowy Sunday afternoon and just watch for the pleasure of watching good performances and an interesting premise.
Additional Trivia
As an urban planner, I would never forgive myself if I did not mention the fact that the town of Seaside, Florida stands in for the fictional Seahaven in the movie. Seaside is important to planners because it is the only community completely designed on the model of New Urbanism, as proposed by Andreas Duany and his wife and business partner Elizabeth Plater-Zyberg.