Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) was adopted at birth by a corporation. From that moment on his life has been on television 24 hours a day. The catch is that Truman has absolutely no idea he's the star of the worlds favorite TV show.
Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) was adopted at birth by a corporation. From that moment on his life has been on television 24 hours a day. The catch is that Truman has absolutely no idea he's the star of the worlds favorite TV show.
Truman, an insurance salesman, thinks he lives on a island when in reality his hometown is the world's largest set. Everyone he interacts with is an actor playing a role. His parents, his bestfriend Marlon (Noah Emmerich), and even his wife Meryl (Laura Linney) are all actors.
The star is kept in his sheltered environment through ingenious or cruel methods, depending on your point of view. Orchestrating the whole production is Christof (Ed Harris). But how long can Christof keep his prized rat running through the maze without a clue as to what's really happening?
The Truman Show suffers from an ailment common to many movies of late, the trailer shows too much of the film. It's rather ironic that a movie about hiding the truth from a guy for 30 years divulges 90% of the plot in a 3 minute trailer. Oh well I guess that's why those people in Hollywood get the big bucks.
Well with the "big secret" (that's sarcasm folks) revealed what are we left with, the everyday life of quite possibly the worlds biggest dork, Truman. While that may not seem like enough to carry the movie, most of the time it is. Helping to shoulder the burden are viewers in the real world. The people who seemingly live their lives glued to the TV watching Truman.
Carrey was actually a good choice to play Truman. There are occasional flashes of his patented wackiness but only as much as the role calls for. Carrey succeeded in making Truman a character who's easy to like and sympathize with.
If you look real hard you might find some underlying meanings. Like, if we have the technology to do it should we, or people in the public eye having no private life. Additionally you could make cases for people always accepting their surroundings without question, or how TV has made us mindless drones who'd rather watch life than experience it. But The Truman Show is really just a movie about the underdog finally having his day. While the outcome is never in doubt the journey is at least entertaining.
Image From Paramount Pictures