Cue the Sun

Rating: 8/10 (25 August 2005)

Back in 1998, the concept of Jim Carrey appearing in a more serious movie than his usual fare was unthinkable. Surely, the man who gurned his way through Ace Ventura couldn't handle a thoughtful, well-written drama without the shadow of those tropical shirts, ridiculous catchphrases and ludicrous facial expressions looming all over it? Well, while the studio may not have thought so either (consider the marketing campaign which focused mainly on the comedy), the results speak for themselves and established the man as more than just a one-dimensional funny man.
Carrey is Truman Burbank, a man with a seemingly great life who just can't shake the feeling something is wrong. His world seems so neat and organised, too perfect to possibly be real and when a camera mysteriously falls from the sky for no immediate reason, it kicks off a chain of events that lead to him questioning the authenticity of his very existence. For unbeknown to him, he is the star attraction of The Truman Show, a program all about his life within a sealed idealistic, Eisenhower era world of apple pie and sunshine and everyone around him is an actor. Every second of his life has been watched by millions.
With a concept such as this, it is no surprise that the movie raises a lot of troubling issues. The philosophical nature for instance is not unlike that of The Matrix, in that it is difficult to sit through it without wondering if there are limits to the very world around us. Furthermore, the moral issue of reality TV rears its ugly head, asking us what price we pay when we glamorise the ordinary and make everyday people our entertainment? Sure, Truman has had a good life and is totally safe from harm, but how much of that life did he choose for himself? Carrey of course is a magnetic focal point. He was clearly keen to stretch his very capable acting muscles by this stage in his career, but that isn't to say his comic side has been totally abandoned. Just watch his attempted road trip to New Orleans for example, the man barking and ranting maniacally as he careens almost out of control through town in his car with his hysterical wife on the passenger seat trying to reel him in. It is a very funny moment in the film, but his actions here are brought about not by the inherent zaniness in his personality, but more by the growing frustration at his inability to get out of the town.
However, the scene where he really comes into his own comes in the moments following his encounter with his supposedly dead father. Driving to work one morning, his radio malfunctions and after beating the thing with his fists like we've all done at some point, he suddenly picks up radio transmissions detailing his every move. He parks his car and wanders the street, trying to draw attention to himself but failing, even stopping a bus in the middle of the road to no reaction, the occupants simply waiting for him to get out the way. What if he really were the exact centre of the universe and everything else just revolved around him? That isn't to say this is a one man show however. Laura Linney as his wife Meryl is also well cast, her wholesome nature at first being very sweet, then growing ever more troubling as Carrey's paranoia escalates. Then of course there's Ed Harris as the eye in the sky directing his every move. At first, he is a benign guiding influence crafting a Utopian vision for his progeny. But then the child begins to resist the father and events spiral out of control, soon Harris has become a fascist dictator denying Truman the choices he so desperately needs to make himself.
As a whole then, The Truman Show is a rewarding experience. It contains one of Carrey's finest dramatic turns to date and while we can revel in the philosophical and moral issues at work here, it can also be enjoyed simply as a very charming and uplifting movie. Come the climax, I doubt there'll be a dry eye in the house.