Review of The Truman Show (1998) by Seth S — 23 May 2014

I really felt like I needed a palate cleanser after being so disappointed with Pleasantville. I knew The Truman Show was a similar movie, but I also had heard a lot of good things about it. And don't get me wrong, before I go any further I must stress that I did enjoy The Truman Show a whole lot more than Pleasantville. But it wasn't the excellent movie I was hoping for. It offers up its own big problem.

Truman was born and raised in a reality TV show. Everyone and everything around him is fake. The world he lives in is a giant set. The people around him are actors. The situations he finds himself in are contrived. But the whole time, Truman thinks he is living a real life. Because of this, his reaction to the fake world around him is genuine - and the show becomes a hit! A massive one at that. "The Truman Show" makes billions of dollars. And it all hinges on the fact that Truman must never know the truth. But when a few slip-ups cause Truman to question his world, the show runners struggle to keep their program running.

I really do want to spend most of this review talking positively about the movie, so lets get the negative talk out of the way first. The main, overarching thing that brings the movie down for me is its simplistic and rather offensive view of God. The character of Christof represents God in the story (no surprise, his name is Christ-of after all). This character is shown as a controlling, obsessive, and downright insane individual who things his fake world is just as valid as the real one. It also shows him as the omnipresent string puller that he is - suggesting that God is some crazy control freak who sits in Heaven, completely dictating the lives of us, the people. I'm a Christian, and this view is not what God is! He gives us a free will, unlike Christof who plays Truman like a puppet. God allows us to choose our paths, even if he does ultimately know what paths we are going to choose. He doesn't make the choice for us. Free will. But this movie paints Him as a freak who is afraid of the "real world," someone who will stop at nothing to keep us naive. And this aspect of the movie is so entirely wrong, that a lot of enjoyment was sucked out of the story for me.

But enough about that - there is a whole lot of good in this movie! The entire premise is so creative and intriguing. There are little things, like how the movie portrays product placement, that kept me smiling throughout! The movie really does provide for some biting commentary on our complete acceptance and faith in what we see on TV. Our society is essentially right where this movie predicted. A whole lot of Americans lap up "reality" shows. We never stop to consider how persuasive these influences are on our lives. This movie points this out, ultimately winding up being a few years ahead of its time. It's nifty.

The movie is so much more enjoyable than Pleasantville! Even if I didn't like some of its ideology, at least the movie remains challenging throughout. I never felt like I was being smashed over the head with an agenda. It's a subtly thought-provoking movie, for sure. And I appreciate that.

And what surprised me the most was just how dramatic and effective this movie was. There are some truly tense scenes. Like when Truman begins to understand the lie, he makes a break for the outside world. His "wife" gets thoroughly freaked out by this episode. When he is finally stopped and sent back home, his wife unconvincingly tries to advertise some coffee. Truman is disgusted, and he lashes out. It's a really effective scene. As is the whole subplot with a past female cast member who tries to tell Truman the truth.

Jim Carrey doesn't often get to be so simultaneously comedic and dramatic, but he absolutely nails it as Truman! At times, he is laugh-out-loud funny. And at times, he is downright touching. Seeing him give his million dollar smile while going through his daily routine is priceless!

The supporting cast has one major highlight. The criminally underrated Noah Emmerich plays Truman's "best friend" Marion. There's a really well acted scene between Truman and Marion - and even though Marion is having his entire speech dictated to him by Christof, it's still extremely well acted!

And lastly, I feel like I have to briefly talk about Ed Harris, who plays Christof. As Harris was nominated for an Oscar for the performance, I feel like I have to mention it. And he's alright. It's not bad acting, that's for sure. But as I mentioned above, I could not get behind anything the character represents.

Peter Weir does a heck of a job making almost everything in this movie work. It truly is an imaginative movie. And it really is executed almost to perfection - with equally excellent drama and comedy. But sadly, the movie treats God like a maniac. And to that I say "no thanks." But to everything else in this movie, I say "thank you!" Chew the meat and spit out the bones, that's how I treat The Truman Show.

"Good morning, and in case I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!" 6.5/10.