IMDb #232 Review: The Truman Show (1998)

Source: Wikipedia

In this parallel dimension, Hollywood engineers burn mountains of money to produce a 24/7 TV show about Jim Carrey’s perfectly normal life in the most perfectly boring town in America. Worse, the poor dolt is the only one not in on it. Worst of all, it’s a hit.

How the mundane exploits of a random schmuck capture a worldwide audience is never discussed. Nor how the showrunners keep the show entertaining when Truman’s asleep or defecating (24/7, right?). Nor how anybody could create and sustain an artificial island community under a dome right next to the Hollywood sign.

How’d anybody think this was a good idea? Actually, I’d watch a movie about the pitching process behind The Truman Show.

Once you cease tearing your hair out at the premise (or run out of hair) ... it’s a pretty good flick.

When a guy finds out his life is a lie, he flips out. Understandably so. As the auteur director says: the world is false, but his emotions are real.

Like an insular religious community, they’ve controlled his education, social circles, career, marriage…and they won’t let him leave. His escape attempts escalate in desperation. The director's megalomania break into Orwellian territory and beyond.

Watching the facade crumble is oddly satisfying, though not as much as seeing Jim Carrey struggle to under-react for a change. Interestingly, the way to break the system is to behave erratically. So, to be free, Truman must become…Jim Carrey.

Infer your own satire of our television-saturated culture.

Recommended for seemingly ordinary insurance adjusters, extreme method actors, and closeted solipsists.