A great adult fable about a man whose entire life, unbeknownst to him, is the subject of an enormously successful TV show, ten years later, the themes of 'The Truman Show' are as relevant as ever and eerily prescient.
Although I'd have to do more research than I really want to do, I'm pretty sure that 'reality' television at the point of this film's original theatrical release in 1998 was limited to cable schlock like MTV's 'The Real World' but ten years on, we're getting closer and closer to human lives being completely fabricated - privacy all but extinguished with emotions real but still generated via media.
With horrendous, and let's face it, immoral junk like 'The Moment of Truth' showing up on major networks (where a woman admits to infidelity during a polygraph test with an obviously crestfallen husband looking on in close-up - good 'ol fashioned family entertainment!), this type of media omnipotence isn't far behind (nor is the satire involved with 'The Running Man' or 'Death Race', particularly considering the lack of tact online).
The Truman Show was directed by one of our more gifted filmmakers Peter Weir ('The Year of Living Dangerously', 'Witness', 'Dead Poet's Society') who always seem to master that fine line between subtleness and melodrama. It was scripted by Andrew Niccol who had previously given us smart sci-fi with 'Gattaca' but floundered more recently with 'Simone' and 'Lord of War.’ I would also cite the magnificent 'The Prisoner' show with Patrick McGoohan as being prime motivation.
The first half-hour of the film deftly presents a day in Truman Burbank's life as the audience, essentially us, knows it. A man 'created' to be normal, mid-thirties Truman wakes up in his perfectly suburban house, married to his perfectly albeit obnoxiously perky wife Meryl (Laura Linney) who never misses a chance for product placement, in his perfectly immaculate Florida town of Seahaven, and greets his perfectly suburban neighbors and proceeds to his perfectly suburban everyday normal job of life insurance.
His life has proceeded as planned for his thirty-something years with immaculate and precise control from show creator Christof (Ed Harris) who has genuinely talked himself into thinking that what he's doing is beautiful; providing joy for the millions watching 24-hours a day.
But to achieve this level of realism and to keep Truman within the walls of his prison, the set-bound Seahaven, Christof 'scripted' the death of Truman's father in a boating accident when Truman was a boy - an event that Truman still carries guilt from and keeps him fearful of water (a planned method of keeping Truman wary of travel outside the city).
Slowly, Christof's puppeteer strings over Truman's life unravel as small cracks start to appear in the facade. With all the occupants of Seahaven being actors including his wife and best friend, he first starts to suspect something is seriously awry when he spots a homeless man whom he's sure is his father with his father quickly getting dragged away inexplicably before he can confirm.
Once the first crack appears, his paranoia starts to reveal more and more with radio malfunctions and thwarted escape attempts all but confirming that something is rotten in Seahaven.
A denied romance with an extra, Lauren (Natashca McElhone), while in college, whose fake father came and supposedly whisked her away to Fiji, a place he therefore longs to go, provides the courage for Truman's attempted escape.
Of course, Christof can't allow Truman to escape as his life's work would seem incomplete. With a messiah-complex that's not just hinted at in his name, his control issues ("cue the sun") may have gotten the best of him and his refusal to let Truman escape from his 'perfect' world might delve even into death.
Besides the meticulously crafted screenplay by Niccol and the way it's perfectly handled by Weir, credit can also go to Jim Carrey who delivers one of his first dramatic performances with impressive discipline.
Coming on the heels of his broad blockbuster 'Liar, Liar', moviegoers were no doubt surprised by the appropriate restraint here although he occasionally lets fly with a few mannerisms more expected of him.
Supporting work from Linney and Noah Emmerich as his best friend are great with Ed Harris giving a real resonance to the film's final moments which is cinema as it's most powerfully poignant.
The 1080p 1.85:1 widescreen transfer shows off the great cinematography of the pic and captures the pastel-color, sun-soaked real-life Florida village Sunset (Seahaven in the film) with great detail.
There are only some minor specks here and there so for a ten-year old film; 'The Truman Show' looks pretty great in high-def. A Dolby TrueHD track is provided and does a great job as well with Burkhard Dallwitz's great score coming in crystal-clear.
Special Features seem to be carried over from the 2005 DVD special edition with the highlight being the 45 minute 'How's it going to End? The Making of The Truman Show' documentary split into two parts.
An extended version of your usual making-of, all the cast and crew make an appearance here with Jim Carrey and Peter Weir both having plenty to say. While not particularly in depth, there's a lot of informative interview and behind the scenes footage for fans.
A short 'Faux Finishing, The Visual Effects of The Truman Show' featurette looks at the subtle effects used in the film, Four Deleted Scenes adding up to 13 minutes are presented and finishing things up is a Photo Gallery and TV Spots & Trailers.
1998 was a year that gave us 'Armageddon', 'Godzilla', 'The Avengers' and 'Lost in Space' so it was no surprise that audiences were ready for something a bit smarter, even challenging and with the exception of 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', 'The Truman Show' gives us Carrey's best performance yet. Solid special features and a great transfer make this highly recommended.
The Truman Show [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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