Stats:

Movie:
The Truman Show

Stars:
Jim Carrey
Ed Harris
Laura Linney
Noah Emmerich

Director:
Peter Weir

Date: 1998

Studio:
Paramount

Bottom Line:
Excellent film.
Ground Breaking. Highly Recommended

The Truman Show

I love seeing a movie for the first time. No matter how good it is, the second or third time are just not as satisfying because you already know what is going to happen. Every once in a while you get to see a wonderful movie for the first time. "The Truman Show" is that kind of movie.

Jim Carey is Truman, the unwitting star of his own show. He lives in the fictional town of Seahaven which modeled closely on fictional TV land small towns of the 1950s. Slowly, he stumbles on the fact that things are not what they seem in his life. Before that, Truman is blissfully unaware that there are over 5,000 cameras concealed in his hometown and there isn't a single thing he does that isn't recorded by a camera. Luckily for him, his life is much more peaceful than when MTV's "Real World/Road Rules". The paranoia creeps in slowly and builds. Seahaven is Orwell's "1984" gone nutso for ratings. Truman wants to leave and has always wanted to explore the world, but his surrogate father, Christof (Ed Harris) has always been able to script Truman's life so that he won't leave Seahaven. Cristof is the show's creator and director. He seems to care about Truman as a son, but has done some terrible things to him to keep in Seahaven and keep "The Truman Show" on the air. Ironically, Christof, even though he has never met Truman in person, has the closest and most enduring relationship with Truman than either of them have ever had with anyone else. When "The Truman Show" goes off the air for the last time, the world loses a TV show, but Christof actually loses his son.

"The Truman Show" is definitely one of the best films of this year. When this goes to video, be sure to only buy or rent the wide-screen format or you'll miss quite a bit of what makes this film so groundbreaking. "The Truman Show" at the beginning of the film is described as a "lifestyle" by Meryl, Truman's wife. For the viewers, it appears to be an obsessive soap opera which they watch constantly, falling asleep to it, taking baths watching it, going the special "Truman Show Bar" to see it. When the end does finally come, the viewers quickly forget and move on. The ending is very satisfying, - I can't give it away or I'll ruin it.

Jim Carey is perfect as Truman. If you're looking for the wild and crazy Jim Carey of "Dumb and Dumber" or "Ace Ventura", he didn't show up for this movie. I'm not sure whether this role is Oscar-worthy; if Tom Hank's Forrest Gump was considered Oscar material, then Carey's Truman should be considered in the same league. No matter what happens, Jim Carey has changed his screen persona, and for the better. Carey's Truman is believable that he didn't figure things out until his mid-thirties. He's not stupid, it just didn't occur to him. The whole cast is excellent and the script is very well written.

At first when I heard about "The Truman Show", I thought there had to be some kind of mistake. Jim Carey not being wacky, over-the-top and toned down for a serious movie?!? What is wrong with this picture? Go see "The Truman Show". This is a movie that could have remained a sharp Indie but somebody with guts at a major studio picked up. If you need action movies, this isn't the right movie for you. If you like to think and be treated as an adult at the movies, "The Truman Show" fits the bill.