The Truman Show Review
by Scott Renshaw (renshaw AT inconnect DOT com)June 7th, 1998
THE TRUMAN SHOW
(Paramount)
Starring: Jim Carrey, Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Natascha McElhone, Ed Harris.
Screenplay: Andrew Niccol.
Producers: Scott Rudin, Andrew Niccol, Edward S. Feldman, Adam Schroeder. Director: Peter Weir.
MPAA Rating: PG (profanity, adult themes)
Running Time: 100 minutes.
Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
Sometimes the term "high concept" doesn't do a film justice. Critics are partly to blame, since we use the term perjoratively to refer to studios' tendency to mix and match stars or previously successful film plots to create easy-to-sell, easy-to-digest packages. That certainly doesn't describe THE TRUMAN SHOW, though the premise is about as high concept as they come: a 29-year-old man named Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) gradually becomes aware that his entire life has been the subject of a carefully controlled, 24-hour-a-day documentary/soap opera called "The Truman Show," the most popular program in television history. No, there's nothing easy to digest about THE TRUMAN SHOW, which is exactly what makes it so brilliant. Masterfully conceived and executed, as thought-provoking as it is hilarious, THE TRUMAN SHOW is everything studio film-making should be but almost never is.
It would be easy enough to praise the film to the skies simply for creating its world so seamlessly. Truman's fictional home-town of Seahaven is brilliantly created by production designer Dennis Gassner as a Disneyland-clean approximation of a small Florida community. Unique visual perspectives capture the way thousands of cameras pry into every moment of Truman's life, from inside his car radio to behind his bathroom mirror. The film scores may of its best comic hits with running gags about product placements in the commercial-free show -- Truman's alarmingly cheery wife Meryl (Laura Linney) bringing home a new kitchen tool; his best friend Marlon (Noah Emmerich) showing up with a six-pack of beer any time there's trouble; two men who consistently position Truman in front of an advertising poster on the street every time they meet. For nearly 45 minutes director Peter Weir permits only isolated intrusions from the "real world" reacions of viewers, wrapping the viewer in the inescapable "reality" in which Truman lives.
The emotional content behind that premise makes THE TRUMAN SHOW far more than a clever exercise in style. Jim Carrey's performance as Truman is deceptively complex, because he's playing a character who often behaves with the forced good nature of a sit-come character. Behind that facade, however, is a man with inner life repeatedly thwarted by the "plot" of "The Truman Show." His childhood dreams of exploring are re-programmed with childhood trauma so he'll never want to leave his sound stage community; his one true love (Natscha McElhone), the extra who tries to tell him the truth about his life, is yanked away from him, leaving him to reconstruct her from magazine photos. Truman is like a child under the thumb of a domineering parent, which adds depth to the character of Christof (Ed Harris), the show's creator and director. In small moments we see Christof behaving with the concern and tenderness of a father, but it's a twisted and controlling love. Though he sincerely believes he has created a better world for Truman, he can't overcome the determination of his "son" to create his own destiny.
Before it begins to appear that THE TRUMAN SHOW is a touch-feely triumph of the spirit story complete with swelling strings, I should note that Weir and writer Andrew Niccol (GATTACA) come at the material from a subversive and satirical angle. As much as it is about Truman himself, THE TRUMAN SHOW is also about the phenomenon of television viewership, and more specifically about the phenomenon of blaming the media for giving the people what they want. The irony in the film's conclusion, as Truman tries to escape from his staged life, comes from the same viewers who happily watched his confinement cheering for his freedom, seemingly oblivious to the role they played in his plight. THE TRUMAN SHOW recognizes that we are a nation of voyeurs who jeer programmers for pandering to our voyeuristic nature. The film's most memorable moment may be its final scene, where a heroic finale is twisted with a knowing nod to the fact that there will always be an audience for the next "Truman Show." If this is the stuff of high concept, then it's the kind which finally puts the emphasis on the "high."
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 harried Trumans: 10.
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