|
Starring Jim Carrey, Ed Harris, Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Natascha McElhone, Holland Taylor,
Harry Shearer. Written by Andrew Niccol. Directed by Peter Weir.
Truman Burbank (Carrey) is just about to turn 30. He lives on a little island called Seahaven, a little piece of 50's style paradise where the weather is idyllic, the streets are neat and clean with shiny white homes and small businesses, and the people relaxed and friendly. His perpetually smiling wife Meryl (Linney) maintains a lovely home, and his mom (Taylor) and her are pushing for a little bundle of joy to complete their blissful domestic life. His best buddy Marlon (Emmerich) always comes over at the right time with a six-pack to cheer Truman up when he needs it. But he begins to doubt his life is as it seems. One day a television light falls from out of the sky, smashing to pieces in front of his home. A rainstorm one night seems to follow him as he moves along the beach. Another time he was flipping through the radio and hears stage instructions which describe his movements down main street. He is haunted by memories of a lost love named Lauren (McElhone) who warned him that his world was not real and he was being controlled, and who vanished from Seahaven after their passionate kiss on the beach. His doubts magnify when he glimpses what seems to be his father, who Truman believed was dead drowning at sea in a violent storm from a boat he and his father were sailing on. Truman tells Marlon he thinks something is wrong and he can't trust the others in his life, saying "it fells like the whole world revolves around me". Truman wants out of Seahaven. He wants to go to Fiji - not only because it is the farthest thing in the world from Seahaven, but because Lauren was supposed to have gone there. But it seems the whole world is out to stop him from leaving. Truman has good reason to be suspicious. At birth, he was adopted by a corporation for the purpose of starring in a 24 hour-a-day TV show, masterminded by god-like Christof (Harris). In an interview with a corporate controlled personality (Shearer), Christof asserts that he has done Truman a favour, allowing Truman to live in a perfect world protected from the hardships of the real world. Truman's artificial paradise is covered by a dome which allows total control of the weather conditions, and everyone in Truman's life is an actor, paid to smile and be happy. 5000 cameras are placed all over Seahaven, including dashboards, mirrors and actors' buttons to track his daily life. The dome also allows Christof to manipulate Truman's life, using the weather and the actors to keep Truman in line. Millions of viewers tune into the show on a daily basis to see what Truman will do next, and many put their lives on hold hanging on his next move. Forget about Dumb and Dumber, Ace Ventura and his usual stuff - this is Jim Carrey unlike you've ever seen him. Weir has him under control, delivering a portrayal of a real human being who can be funny, tragic and fiercely determined to get control back of his life. Harris is outstanding as the soulless svengali who considers Truman his own personal property which he has the right to control. The rest of the cast, made up largely of unknowns, is excellent, especially Linney. But the main star of the film is the script. It expertly displays several timely themes. For one, it vividly illustrates the use of product placement. In one memorable scene, Truman returns home after showing his wife the way the people in his life do fake and conspicuously out-of-place things, and all she can is put on her fake smile and peddle the merits of a lovely blend of cocoa. Secondly, it indicates how people desire diversion from their own lives, watching someone else living in paradise. The huge hype over the ending of Seinfeld, as well as many people's addiction to soap operas are cases in point. Thirdly, it illustrates the human desire to exploit. The viewership thinks nothing of watching Truman's most personal moments, even when he's sleeping. Watching suicides or car crashes on the evening news, as well as the human car crash which is the Springer show, is evidence we're already there. One excellent scenes illustrates the moving reunion of Truman with his father, and how Truman is manipulated by Christof and the crew to say just the right tear-jerking things, and how the TV audience responds with tears and applause. The main flaw in the movie is in the way we are manipulated ourselves in the latter stages of the movie by the use of TV audience members crying at the right time, worrying at the right time and feeling warm all over at the right time. We don't need any hints - the movie itself conveys what we need to know about how to feel. The ending is quite good, nicely resolving Truman's search for the truth, which certainly is out there. The Truman Show is hugely entertaining, beautifully filmed, quite thought provoking, and highly recommended.   
|