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"I always keep a stimulant handy in case I see a snake - which I also keep handy" - W. C. Fields
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It's funny how sometimes the smallest things stick in your memory. I can still, all these years on, remember the first time I saw "The Truman Show". It was with my mother and we were at the cinema at Lakeside in West Thurrock. I don't remember the date, or even why we'd gone to Lakeside in the first place, but I remember we decided to see a film on a whim, and this was our eventual choice.
I suspect part of the reason I remember is because in all my (nearly) thirty years, I have only seen two films at the cinema with only my mother for company. The other was "E. T.", and I remember that we were alone for that one as my brother had come down with tonsillitis and my dad had to stay home with him.
Truman Burbank is the star of "The Truman Show", which is essentially a larger scale version of "Big Brother". When the film was first released, though, we didn't know this, as reality TV wasn't as big as it was, and Big Brother was still only a figment of George Orwell's imagination. More importantly, Truman doesn't realise that "The Truman Show" is the biggest thing on American TV and that it is all about him and his life. Millions of cameras follow him throughout his day to day business, watching his every move at home, at work and at play and beaming it live to a watching audience of millions.
But everything is not quite normal in Truman's life. Strange things are happening to him. Lights fall from the sky. The radio seems to be doing a running commentary of his drive to work. His dad suddenly appears for the first time in many years - not so strange, really, as you hear stories like that all the time these days. Except that in the intervening years, Truman's father was missing, presumed drowned. For the first time in his life, Truman begins to question that his life and his home town of Seahaven isn't all it seems.
It
is maybe because the idea was so new at the time and no-one really knew how "real" people would work in front of a TV camera that makes some of the acting now seem a little unrealistic. Being merely a snapshot means that some of the more mundane parts of life would be cut, but there seems to be more meaningful conversation and strange goings on than you would normally expect and some of the script just doesn't quite sound like things real people would say. Even some of Truman's utterances seem a little forced and as he's the one person who is supposed to be "real", this is a bit of a disappointment.
If I recall correctly from way back then, there was talk of an Oscar for Jim Carrey's performance as Truman Burbank. Although he performs adequately, I can't see this. His earlier films had him playing the fool, and acting as Jim Carrey normally would, I suspect. Here, he tones it down slightly, but there are glimpses of Jim Carrey in parts, particularly as he starts to wonder how real his reality is.
The same is true of some of the other characters. Laura Linney seems to be over-acting as Truman's wife. Whilst this may be deliberate, to ensure we remember that this is what she is, compared to Truman's reality. Unfortunately, as Carrey fails to be real enough, this means she has to be a little over the top to give that impression. As the script calls for her to have a nervous breakdown due to the stress of Jim Carrey acting up, this then has to be even more over the top, and it all just seems very strange indeed.
Indeed, it is Ed Harris as the creator of "The Truman Show", Christof, who seems to perform best. He portrays a dictatorial director very well. As the brains behind the show as well as the creative genius, he has reason to not want things to go wrong, and reacts furiously to any criticism, but this is combined with some genuinely tender moments. I'm sure credit here should go to, at least in part, to the film's director, Peter Weir, who has certainly made a director out of Ed Harris. Eventually, when the Oscars came around, it was these two who were nominated, rather than Jim Carrey and this seems a fair reflection of their respective performances.
The soundtrack is largely unobtrusive except for in one part where music is used as a tool for the show itself and is wonderfully manipulated by Christof. The rest of the time, it blends in and isn't something you'd notice, which is perfect. It's not a film that requires intrusive music to offset the action. The script, however, is a little clunkier. Although there are some good lines involved, they don't seem quite real enough. Some of Truman's utterances seem a little too scripted and, although this is true of most of the cast, his lines more than anyone else's, shouldn't be that way. Although it does give an awareness that you're watching a TV show, it doesn't make the "real" person amongst them stand out as it should. The final line of the whole film, however, is an absolute gem. Those 4 words say so much about the world's attitude to TV as a whole and provide the perfect ending.
When this film was first released, way back in 1998, it was a little more unusual and ground-breaking than it seems watching it back now. Since then, the film "EdTV" worked to a fairly similar theme and with the fifth series of "Big Brother" having just started, the idea of people being watched around the clock, their every action and utterance delivered live to an audience of millions is not a novel idea. Indeed, many of the scenes where a crowd in a bar are all watching the show seemed quite silly at the time - would people really be THAT involved in a TV show? - now seem more realistic, after the stories of how millions gathered in bars and clubs in the US recently to see the end of "Sex and the City" and "Friends". As life has moved on, so our reactions to this film have moved with them. It no longer seems like and unrealistic concept, but parts of the way the concept are presented here seem unrealistically done.
It has been suggested that the film was an attempt to satirise the media itself. However, subsequent events suggest that if this was the case, the media didn't get the joke. Instead, they took the idea to and ran with it. At the time, it seemed like a horrible taste of what could happen, but now it's just a slightly more fictional and bigger version of "Big Brother" and the like. This does, however, make it more interesting than watching "Big Brother" as a whole, as this is mostly a highlights reel.
In the end, this is a gentle night's entertainment. It's not funny, but it is amusing and it is something suitable for the whole family. It's not a fast paced film, though, so if you're not the kind of person who can wait for a story to unfold, it's not for you. Rom-com fans may enjoy this, but fans of action films may well end up a little bored and if you're a real fanatic of "Big Brother", it will just seem a little sanitised and not real enough.
It is, however, entertaining enough to be a decent evening's viewing if you don't have a great deal else to do and there's nothing decent on TV. And as it's available pretty cheaply these days, due to it already being 6 years old, it's definitely worth giving a try. I'd advise trying to find it as a rental first, but as part of the 3 for £20 DVD offer at play.com or £6.97 from Amazon.co.uk, or even for £4.99 on video from Sendit.com, a purchase won't break the bank or leave you disappointed, should this turn out to be your kind of film.
It's certainly not one I am upset I purchased, although I'm in no major rush to spend any extra money upgrade my copy from VHS to DVD. It's a film that manages not to offend my sensibilities too much, being just about amusing enough for the comedy fan in me to enjoy, and quite sweet in parts, but without being sickly. Sure, it's not the best piece of film-making there has ever been, but the general inoffensiveness of the film (and I never thought I'd say that about anything starring Jim Carrey!) makes this a decent fallback option which will have a vague appeal for everyone, even if it's unlikely to be anyone's first choice for a night's entertainment.
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Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Advantages: easy and enjoyable to watch, thought provoking, Jim Carey is actually very very good in it Disadvantages: The 'actors' are a little too fake and not enough is made of them, the set is a little too bright and obviously fake
hellyphant 04.05.2002 ·
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Review of The Truman Show (DVD)
May 31st, 2004
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