04/24: The Truman Show

Television recently celebrated its 75th birthday, and a local newspaper gave a list of 10 movies about TV. One of them was Network, which I reviewed a few days ago, and another was The Truman Show. I remember seeing this in the Summer of '98 at the show, and I remember walking out very disappointed. This was because of the hype surrounding it at the time.

Jim Carrey supposedly put on his best serious performance as Truman Burbank, a 30-year old whose life has been a never-ending reality show. Since his birth, actors and actresses all surround him, as well as a dome of a fake community. Everything about Truman, be it where he goes and what he eats, is broadcast around the world on live television. He's married, but his wife is also fake too as she is mostly there for money (not Truman's, the studio's). Truman dwells on a girl who departed his life for Fiji as he seeks to go find her. The creator and man behind the show, Chrisof (Ed Harris), tries to make Truman afraid of the water because of his dad being killed off of the show (and Truman's life).

We, including myself, wondered how this pulled off brilliantly. I thought it was well-planned and the characters seemed to fit well with the story. But I still felt there was something missing. Maybe it was because I was so used to seeing Jim Carrey in a comedy performance. See, Carrey was on a hot streak in the mid-90s with several comedy films. Seeing him as a confused man who wanted answers was probably not suiting me well. I watched this the other day and my reaction had not changed. The film was not predictable, as there were several events that led to what was not supposed to happen with Truman.

Apparently many disagree with me as several so-called professional movie critics gave this one high praise, and this is currently on imdb's Top 250 list. Before I saw the movie nearly 16 years ago, I remember reading a review that said it was Carrey's chance for an Oscar. He didn't get it for this, but he proved himself and everyone else to be an all-around actor. I also consider this to be very creepy at times, as it has some uncomfortable closed settings. You'll know what I mean when you watch it.

Even though many believe this was a great movie, I'd still recommend it maybe for renting or Netflix purposes. Don't expect a lot of humor, though.

My rating: 5 out of 10