Look closer and this film may be about you

Rating: 9/10 (29 September 1999)

First off I have to say that I really believe that the majority of people that didn't like this were people that were expecting Ace Ventura to pop up on screen. Like all of a sudden Jim Carrey's face was going to explode with laughter and he was going to break into fits of absurdity the way he did when he talked with his butt. And if that is the hang up you have with this film, then I pity you because there is so much to this film that it could make you look at things a little closer.
The Truman Show is what seems to be the story of a man that has lived a make believe life. We all know what it is about and if you don't then this review is not the best one for you, skip down in the IMDb and there are many great reviews about what Turman is in the narrative sense. I want to touch on something else and it is something that I hope other people can see as well.
The Truman Show can be a metaphor for anyone's life, especially us that dwell in wealth of the Western Culture. Because the one question arises in this movie that doesn't let go of you is a scary one, and that is " What is real? " I'm not talking in the literal sense the way Truman has it. His life is not real in the sense that he is there for everyone to view and take pleasure from. But when I ask " What is real? " I mean what in our life is real? I'm sure that you can get a myriad of responces to that question but after seeing this movie it makes me question every single one of the answers that I can come up with. The Truman Show asks you to open your eyes and look around you. Is what you see pleasing? Do you have the white picket fence, the two car garage, the double income family, the kids that are going to make you proud and go to college, good friends, a few pets, an okay boss, a sense of security, a faithful spouse, a nice car, money in the retirement fund and so on. Well do you? If you do, is it possible to fathom that it could all be a sherade, that it is all a mirage? That white picket fence could get destroyed by a tornado or vandals, your two car garage could get destroyed by a fire, your double income family could be reduced to nothing if one of you is caught cheating or there are budget cutbacks and someone loses a job or becomes expendable, the kids may not want to go to college, they may get pregnant or make someone pregnant and want to work in a hardware store for the rest of their life, your friends may not like you very much and just put on an act for propriety sake, in fact one of those friends may be sleeping with your wife or husband, your pet may get run over by a car, your boss may despise you, the stockmarket could crash and all of your sense of security with it, your nice car is just a machine to get you places and the retirement fund could be gone tomorrow, you never know. The whole point to this is that The Truman Show wants us to look a little closer at what it is that is important to us. It shows and tells us in a round about way that we have become strange and demented when we prioritize the things in our life the way we do. And in a way, every character in the Truman Show could be us. How many of us want control the way Ed Harris has control? How many of us are the loving wife ( or husband ) who is happy on the outside and stark raving mad and downright miserbable on the inside? How many of us want to tell the world that something is wrong with it the way Truman's one and only true love wanted to tell him? How many of us are the consumate actor when we need to be just like Truman's best friend? And how many of us are Truman, a guy that knows something is wrong with his/her life but has no idea what or how to fix it? I think we are all like these people sometimes. And that is what makes The Truman Show as brilliant as it is, because it is twisted but so is life. If you haven't seen this film I strongly recommend that you do, and if possible watch it back to back with American Beauty. Both have a lot to say about society in general, they go about it in different ways but it is essentially the same message.

" It's never to late to start over. "
This is a great film and one that should be seen to be appreciated. It is a gem and deep down it wants us to look closer. Sorry to steal that catch phrase from American Beauty, but it applies here just as well. Life is what you make of it, it just takes a little work.