What if you realized that everything in your life had been carefully selected and molded by a TV producer for a show about your life? That’s what happens to Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) in The Truman Show.
Burbank has a relatively comfortable life as an insurance salesman. He’s married to Meryl (Laura Linney), who’s a nurse at the local hospital. They live in a nice house in Seahaven, a quiet coastal town that seems oddly perfect. And that’s no coincidence, because everything in the town is controlled by Christof (Ed Harris), who has constructed this little world for Truman to live in. Christof has been broadcasting Truman’s life on television since the day he was born.
That’s all I’ll say about the plot. The premise of the movie is that Truman slowly discovers what’s going on, and watching it happen in the manner it happens is something truly special. The film was written by Andrew Niccol, who wrote the wonderful Gattaca. Once again, he creates a world that’s slightly unbelievable and populates it with interesting and engaging characters. Niccol seems to have a predilection for stories concerning men overcoming their peculiar circumstances in unique ways.
The direction by Peter Weir is initially a little odd, but as the movie progresses it becomes obvious why he’s setting things up the way he does. The world of Seahaven is at once humorous and a little frightening as a result of Weir’s work.
Jim Carrey, who is of course noted for his bizarre comedy style, is in quite a different role here. Gone are the ridiculous antics and stupid faces. In their place, we have a subdued performance that still gives Carrey enough room to breathe and be funny in places. More importantly it gives him a showcase for his dramatic talents in a more comfortable (for the audience) venue than The Cable Guy allowed. Carrey shows that he can be more than Dumb and Dumber. I anxiously await his work in Man on the Moon, the Andy Kaufman story.
The rest of the cast is superb as well. Ed Harris, in particular, is convincing as Christof. Linney does a brilliant job with the role of Truman’s wife. I’ll have to check out more of her work.
There’s so much that one can say about The Truman Show‘s premise and the philosophy behind it, but doing so would require a dissection of the plotline. That, unfortunately, would spoil the film for those that have not seen it. The movie is more thought-provoking than anything I’ve seen in the last few years, so it sort of takes on a life of its own after you’ve seen it. That’s the mark of a classic film, and I believe that The Truman Show will be remembered as the high water mark of Carrey’s career and as one of the few great films of the 1990s.
5.0 out of 5.0 stars
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