The Truman Show Review
by "Phil Lochner" (lochner AT apk DOT net)June 10th, 1998
The Truman Show (1998)
Complete Information at:
http://us.imdb.com/Title?Truman+Show,+The+
(no, it's not an ad for the Internet Movie Database, it's just easier than typing up all the specifics)
Disclaimer: This is my first post to rec.arts.movies.reviews - so read at your own risk... :)
You've probably seen the trailers on television, on the theater screens, and in the magazines and newspapers. Hailed as the "best movie of the summer" as well as the "movie of the year", it's a story about Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey), a seemingly normal guy living in a scenic coastal town with his beautiful wife (Laura Linney) and his gang of neighbors and friends, led by Marlon (Noah Emmerich).
Truman Burbank, for all his normal-ness, is actually the only real-life character in a huge, fictional television show, directed by the mysterious Christof (Ed Harris). Morning, day, and night, Truman is filmed from thousands of different cameras throughout the picturesque town. His house, his friends, his workplace, his wife, his car, and everything around him are 'bugged' with microscopic cameras which capture every nuance of his actions which are then broadcast around the world to cheering hordes of 'The Truman Show' fans. They celebrate his victories, cry with him and his problems, and emphasize with the way he deals with his day-to-day existence. Truman is naturally unaware that his life is being witnessed by millions (and possibly billions) of other people; he is actually unaware that everything surrounding him is one, huge, scripted soap opera. As Christof tells an interviewer in the movie, Truman is the only character in the show who is truly original and spontaneous. Truman has been in this television show since he was born, and every part of his life: from first steps to his boating accident with his fictional father to his marriage have been recorded and broadcasted to the entire world.
In a huge dome outside of Hollywood ("Other than the Great Wall of China, the only other man made structure visible from outerspace"), Christof directs the pageant, narrating to the other 'actors' in Truman's life and selecting dramatic camera angles as well as 'cueing' natural things such as sunrise, storms, and various interventions when he suspects Truman is getting too 'close' to unmasking the fabrication.
The plot of the movie involves Truman discovering his 'real' place in his 'life' he lives. It begins with a normal day, with Truman smiling, greeting his neighbors in a very typical Leave-it-to-Beaver fashion, before getting in his suburban car and driving to his average job as an insurance salesman. An unscripted accident happens: a light from the television set falls from the sky and smashes into his driveway, and although he suspects something, a quickly-scripted radio broadcast in his car assures 'all the residents' of the town that nothing is wrong.
The rest of the movie concerns Truman discovering (in sometimes humorous ways) that his life isn't everything he thinks it is. Convienent 'solutions' to the facades he accidentally reveals are amusing (especially the obviously thrown-together Nuclear Power Plant accident), but inevitably cliched and pretty unbelievable. There's a true deux-ex-machina involved whenever Truman gets too 'close' and law enforcement officers (or security guards) expel him from a scene. Of course, this is the nature of the beast, but if Truman finds it unbelievable, you can count on the audience (err, the theater audience, not the Truman Show audience..) finding it unbelievable by a factor of ten. But perhaps that's the charm of the movie.
I suppose in a way I was blinded by the endless advertising claims of The Truman Show being the "Movie of the Summer" and the "Best of 1998". I expected a Forrest Gump or a Titanic, instead, I got something more in the line of Primary Colors or Men In Black. Not mind blowingly awesome, but not bad, either. I expected Truman's character to completely break free of the scripted-everyman-in-a-bad-soap-opera role, but instead, he thrives on the situation and doesn't seem to make any truly original or completely spontaneous decisions.
The supporting characters are believable, until you find out that they are mere husks controlled by Christof. Marlon (who reminds me unseemingly of Biff Tanner from Back to the Future, for some reason) has a few heartwrenching moments with Truman, which are shatterered when you learn that he truly is just an actor reciting the words Christof narrates in his earpiece. Likewise for Truman's wife, who seems to break down 'in scene' during a tense moment of the film, pleading with the show's directors to 'get Truman off of her', when in retrospect nothing was shown first of her lack of 'professionalism'. It's just a little bit of a slap-in-the-face for each of the supporting characters. One day, they are the serious, role-orientated characters who inhabit The Truman Show, and when Truman shows the first signs of rebellion, they are suddenly blithering and confused - even though most of them have supposedly spend 15+ years of their life around Truman.
I found Truman's fantastical love interest with a two-bit character played sullenly by Natascha McElhone odd and unfounded. As an extra in the early parts of the 'show', Truman sees her right before he meets his wife-to-be and is fixated by her looks and smile. For some reason, she throws away her (obviously) great paycheck and tries to convince Truman of his real identity (which is foiled ASAP). Truman then spends the majority of his life trying to piece together a bizarre (and vaguely serial-killerish) scrap-book like montage of this one-time dream girl using portions of fashion magazine photographs. And yet, for some reason, Truman remembers this woman his entire life and it's the basis for his complete unbelief of everything surrounding him.
Perhaps I'm being too critical, but I just didn't find Truman's disbelief of his surroundings too believable, if that makes any sense. The lights falling from the skies, his discovery of sets and extras not acting correctly and things of that nature add realism to his disbelief, and I suppose the director anticipated the theater audience believing that Natascha McElhone's character is the one thing to piece it all together - but then why the sudden reappearance of his 20-year dead father? Why the continual defiance towards the radio explanations, his wife's pleadings, and his best-friend? It just doesn't add up to a 100% believable situation, which of course is moot because The Truman Show is about fiction. But still, I felt empty handed.
I was also disappointed with Christof's character. He turns out to merely be another power-hungry Television Network Executive, instead of the father figure/God/conscience voice you first sense he is. Further adding to the unbelievable complications of the scene, the other producers/directors/whatever of The Truman Show (err, the Truman Show in the movie, that is) seem incredibly lax and inattentive. You'd expect for a billion-audience member, multi-trillion dollar live-production extravaganza the staff would be 100% sure of whatever Truman was doing at 100% of the time. People will be people, of course, but the pivotal event which makes Truman figure out who he really is seems contrived with 'typical stressed-out producer' syndrome.
I had the opportunity to view the movie with a friend of mine who was truly unaware about any of the hype surrounding The Truman Show, and to be honest, he was kind of confused. The opening credits run like the beginning of the (fictional) Truman Show, and it isn't until halfway through the movie that you see the much advertised 'interview' with Christof which 'explains' the concept behind the movie Truman Show (including the hilarious line, "Was Truman was the first baby adopted by a corporation?"). Perhaps the movie would be more believable and entertaining if this interview was shown earlier in the picture, or if you had a few more minutes of Truman interacting with his surroundings instead of the almost-instant suspicion you end up viewing. That way, you can view the movie as a harmless observer instead of trying to figure out what's going on along with Truman.
Jim Carrey gives an excellent performance as Truman, branching out completely from the semi-slapstick antics of Liar, Liar and removing himself forever from the laughing stock of Ace Ventura fame. Although at times it's a comedic performance, you sense that it's more of Truman's humorous personality than Jim Carrey yukking it up in The Mask or Batman frivolity. Although rumors persist of a Dumb and Dumber sequel, I can't imagine Jim Carrey performing as another mindless dolt again.
Ed Harris as Christof retains the serious roles he fashioned in movies such as The Rock. He's humorless and serious as the money and ratings-hungry producer/director of The Truman Show, and shows off his devotion to his creation in the final scenes with more heartwrenching sincerity. The combination beret/glasses look as well as the close-up shots of his face and reactions bring a new, dramatic side to the actor which hopefully will be exploited in his upcoming roles.
The remaining supporting characters are just that: supporting actors in both the true theater Truman Show and the fictional Truman Show. Neither outstanding nor average, they simply fill the void of hundreds of extras which populate the movie. I personally never found Truman's wife too believable - she seemed far too June Cleaverish and Truman seemed far too cynical for any love interest to exist. Perhaps this is the source of his infatuation with Natascha McElhone's role? The same goes for Marlon - he comes off as completely too blue collarish and too "Let's go drink and everything will be OK"-ish for white-collar salesman Truman to associate with him. Of course, we must all keep in mind that Truman's entire life has been scripted and performed, and certain things just have to be accepted.
On a rating on one to ten, I'd give The Truman Show a seven.
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Phil Lochner
[email protected]
http://junior.apk.net/~lochner
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
