The Truman Show Review
by Bob Bloom (cbloom AT iquest DOT net)January 31st, 1999
The Truman Show (1998) 4 stars out of 4
The Truman Show is a thought-provoking, original movie that works on many levels.
It has you questioning your concepts of reality - and even God.
The movie can be viewed as a parable on the amount of control we have over our lives, or as an allegory about the exploitation so rampant in today's world.
But what is most amazing about The Truman Show is the performance of Jim Carrey.
Linking the words Jim Carrey and drama have been considered an oxymoron. But in The Truman Show, Carrey gives a breakthrough turn as a man who slowly comes to realize that his life is really not his own.
Shucking his familiar manic mannerisms, Carrey is subtle, winsome, innocent, in control and wise as Truman Burbank, whose life, from the moment of his birth, has kept television audiences enthralled worldwide.
Truman lives and works in Seahaven, a perfect little community in which all the people are friendly and life is a series of product placements.
But gradually Truman becomes aware that something is amiss. A klieg light falls from the sky, the same people perform the same tasks on a regular schedule, an open elevator wall reveals a set filled with technicians.
Most disturbing is the unexpected reappearance of Truman's father, whom he believed drowned years earlier in a boating accident. But everyone tries to convince Truman that the homeless man he saw could not be his father.
Truman begins questioning the reality of his world and of those in it.
He tells his friend, Marlon, that sometimes "it feels like the whole world revolves around me."
And in a sense, it does. From the outset we, the audience, know that Truman's world is a fraud, a gigantic set created by Christof, the Godlike director pulling Truman's strings.
Christof has designed the ultimate reality-based television show. "We accept the reality of the world we are presented," he advises his staff about Truman.
Later when Truman has discovered the truth, Christof tells him that "in my world, you have nothing to fear."
Ed Harris is brilliant as Christof, establishing a character who should be considered reprehensible and loathsome and making him a figure, if not worthy of respect than at least understanding.
Noah Emmerich is fine as Marlon, crying on cue as Christof uses him to try to distract some of Truman's suspicions.
Laura Linney as Meryl, Truman's "wife," gives a deft comic turn as an actress who goes ballistic when Truman begins to ad-lib.
Director Peter Weir's biblical symbolism may offend some. But it is not meant to be sacrilegious. Rather it questions the status of God in today's world.
Is He, like Christof, that omnipotent director scripting our every action, or is He merely one of the viewers sitting back and watching as events unfold?
Weir's setting and staging of the confrontation between Truman and Christof is loaded with biblical implications.
It also is one of the strongest scenes in the film.
Weir leaves his ending a bit ambiguous, forcing the viewer to think about Truman's future.
That's the way smart movies work. They refuse to cater to an audience's lowest common denominator.
The Truman Show is a very effective and touching movie. It may leave you questioning the concept of reality.
Even if you can't find a hidden message the film will remain an enjoyable and unforgetable experience.
At this stage of the movie season, it may be premature to talk about Academy Award nominations. But don't be surprised come February if The Truman Show is among the handful of films receiving multiple honors.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Ind. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or at
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Carol Bloom of Bloom Ink Publishing Professionals
3312 Indian Rock Lane West Lafayette, IN 47906-1203
765-497-9320 fax 765-497-3112 [email protected]
Committed to Lifelong Learning through Effective Communication
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