Review of The Truman Show (1998) by Harry W — 05 Jun 2014

One Of Jim Carrey's most critically acclaimed performances, The Truman Show had a very interesting concept which could be excellent if executed just right,.

The Truman Show can be looked at and interpreted in many ways because there are so many themes subtly within the film underneath the primary focus of its media satire and how the corporations manage to control the world with lies. If you examine the film closely, you can pick up on the fact that it has religious terminology as well in terms of the way that its character Christof plays god with the life of Truman Burbank, and it even has themes of psychology in it because the behaviour that the titular Truman Burbank exerts can be commonly associated with Schizophrenia. Frankly, The Truman Show could mean a lot of things to a lot of different people and proves to be a lot deeper than one might have expected it to be on the surface. Thanks to the fact that writer Andrew Niccol contributes both a very original concept and a screenplay full of complex themes and intelligent dialogue, The Truman Show is a great film from the start which only gets better as it goes on.

While the pace may feel a little bit fast and the film may feel a little bit short for such a complicated science fiction concept, The Truman Show is still a film which will stand out to viewers like no other because of the kind of character that Truman Burbank is and the strange world that he lives in. The world is designed with spot on production design and scenery as well as being captured with excellent cinematography which gives the film a good technical platform. Its cinematography is especially terrific because of the fact that it is filmed and edited in a style that makes it feel like the viewers is genuinely watching a hidden camera reality TV show. The atmosphere of the film has a real sense of artificiality, and it is cleverly satirised as a way of the film poking fun at the idea of a utopia. So the general feel and energy of The Truman Show are just perfectly powerful, and thanks to dedicated direction from Peter Weir it is able to take advantage of its high concept plot. While maybe not as deeply and as largely scaled as a lot of viewers may like, its focus on the character Truman Burbank is still thought provoking and funny. So The Truman Show has a fine atmosphere and a story worth telling which Peter Weir does without challenge.

Frankly, one of the best things about The Truman Show is the fact that it is one of those films which has viewers questioning reality. It makes them wonder just what a world it would be like if they were stuck in a reality TV show controlled by someone else without knowing it. It has the same kind of complex thinking behind it that The Matrix did, though it sacrifices the action concept in lieu of some simply light hearted dramatics and laughs. And quite frankly, it can be a mesmerising film which leaves audiences in a shocked state of mind. If like me, The Truman Show had you questioning the potential delusions and mysteries of reality, that means that The Truman Show really had you feeling something strange. And what a feeling it is. The Truman Show is one of those films which subtly uses complex dystopian themes to encourage audiences to be more independent and think for themselves, as well as how you can't sit around waiting for life to happen or wasting it all on some television screen. And lastly, it reminds us just how strange it is that humanity is so fascinated with reality TV when a lot of it is just artificial depictions of random people whose contributions to society are overemphasised. Frankly, it is difficult to walk away from The Truman Show without thinking deeply about it, and it is even harder to walk away from it without experiencing some form of serious entertainment.

And quite frankly.

Jim Carrey's leading performance in The Truman Show is just excellent. He ties the entire film together in one of the clearly best performances of his career, and it shows his true versatility as an actor. A lot of Jim Carrey's natural anecdotes which made him an iconic actor of comedy manage to transition well into drama in The Truman Show, and that is precisely what makes his performance memorable. As the world of Truman Burbank begins to slowly collapse around him, Jim Carrey performs as if he is suffering from true schizophrenia with a slight comedic edge so that he is still funny at times. And without even needing to study his performance closely you can tell that he is giving it his true all. Jim Carrey is just excellent in The Truman Show, and the film will go down in history as being one of his most iconic roles which it most deservedly is because of the way that he has viewers easily sympathising and caring about him for a large number of reasons. Plus, he benefits from Jim Carrey's naturally likable persona as well. So there is a hundred things to like about his performance in The Truman Show, and it is one of his deepest performances to date.

Ed Harris' depiction of Christof of a man who considers himself a god is spot on. He portrays him as a man of both wisdom and immense power and combines both positive and negative elements into his persona so that liking or hating him is based on the audience's opinion of his behaviour instead of his motives. Ed Harris delivers his lines with the passion of a man who has sunk into true power, and he makes the greedy media theme of the film just jump to life with immense strength within only a few scenes on screen. His line delivery is terrific as well.

Laura Linney also gives a dramatically rich supporting performance, as does Noah Emmerich.

So while The Truman Show stays on a small scale and moves along so quickly that it can be a bit of a rush, it is a deep and complicated science fiction satire which is both funny and dramatic thanks to an absolutely perfect central performance from Jim Carrey.