Truman Burbank is the star of "The Truman Show", a 24-hour-a-day "reality" TV show that broadcasts every aspect of his life -- live and in color -- without his knowledge. His entire life has been a...
WHAT I LIKED: Peter Weir and Andrew Niccols' 'The Truman Show,' is a genius high-concept story about our unhealthy obsession with celebrity lives.
Famously, it follows a man (Jim Carey) who has unknowingly grown up from birth in a 24-hour reality TV show. The town he lives in is inside a giant dome, and everyone around him - including his wife (Laura Liney) - is an actor.
This microcosm of society does slightly beg the question of what makes life worth living at all, as on the face of it Truman has many of the things we all have. But of course, what undermines it is that none of his connections are real, nothing he does has any impact on the world around him, and he can't leave and explore anywhere else.
As such, what's really compelling about the story is that you long for him to find out the truth and escape to a real, fulfilling life, as that creates some proper tension which is brought to life expertly by the script revealing small truths to Truman like clues. Then, when he does start to catch on, its extremely cathartic, and makes for a brilliantly engaging character arc.
But what elevates the film further and allows it to say something about reality is the way it cuts to the show's control room (lead by Ed Harris' mastermind character) and the viewers around the world, as it exposes the strange relationship that many of us do really have to celebrities, our obsession with their every move, and the way media corporations capitalise on that.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: As ever, Jim Carey's performance is more cartoonish than earnest, but that does at least work logically here as he's a character who's almost grown up playing a role in a world created for him.
VERDICT: 'The Truman Show,' has a genius high concept story which creates real tension and a great character arc, and even manages to say something about the world.
