In the world according to Truman

Rating: 10/10 (1 July 2005)

Have you ever stopped and actually looked at your everyday life? Where it's going? Where it's coming from? The people you share it with? The events that have shaped your life right up until this point in time? That's the dilemma Truman Burbank is facing.
Truman (Jim Carrey) lives in the idyllic town of Seahaven. The sky is always blue. The people are always friendly. He has a loving wife and mother. It's as if everybody knows everybody. Life couldn't be better. But something is missing from Truman's life in a way he can't explain.
Although Truman's life is seemingly perfect, he doesn't get much fulfilment out of it. There's a desire burning in Truman to explore. To see the world. To get out of Seahaven. But most importantly, to find a woman called Sylvia. A woman he grew to love. A woman who filled the void in his life. A woman he has never forgotten.
If Truman's life sounds perfect to you, that's because it's been engineered that way. Unknown to him, his entire life is a TV series. A series called The Truman Show.
Truman is the star of his own personal reality show. Cameras follow his every move. The town of Seahaven is an elaborate set, and the townspeople are actors. Including Truman's wife and mother! The events of his life are all under the watchful gaze of Christof (Ed Harris), the show's creator and overall overseer. He decides Truman's destiny, his every decision, possibility and train of thought. He controls Truman's dreams and ambitions, broadcasting his life to an audience of millions.
The Truman Show is a truly extraordinary film. One of the most daring, thought-provoking and intriguing films to come out of Hollywood in God knows how long. The attention to detail in this film is just amazing, but it's the little things that keep bringing me back, such as the ominous advertising posters dotted around designed to put Truman off travelling.
The film has been created in such an intricate way it constantly improves with repeated viewing. The way we follow Truman's exploits are incredible, how the influence of the creators are always around, like the way Truman has been deliberately traumatised to keep him away from the ocean, and thereby discovering the truth.
Jim Carrey is the emotional core of the film, and he rises to the challenge admirably. For the most part, he reins himself in, becoming increasingly disturbed as he slowly senses the truth. Little errors and discrepancies such as a stage light seemingly falling out of the sky, stage hands caught putting together sound stages and the conversations of the creators filtering through his car radio start to alert Truman to the truth.
The small details of Truman's artificial world really enhance the viewing experience. I like the adverts on TV subliminally suggesting he should stay home instead of thinking of travelling, as well as the creators trying to make good when they've slipped up in their routine. The subtle attempts at brainwashing are everywhere, and send the chilling message of how much power the media has over our lives.
Ed Harris also puts in an excellent performance as the megalomaniacal Christof, a man with a Messiah complex. He's been watching every aspect of Truman's life, from the day he was born, and will continue to script his existence till the day he dies. Which may be a day of Christof's own choosing. Another chilling possibility. The possible what if's and maybe's are intriguing, because there is so much potential to this type of situation.
One of the most touching aspects to Truman's life is the connection he formed with Sylvia. She was a sympathetic co-star, and tried to reveal the truth to him. But a relationship with her went against Christof's master plan, and you can see the way he's scripted encounters that would lead Truman to marrying another woman, Meryl.
So Christof had Sylvia kicked off the show, but she touched Truman's heart, and he spent so many years searching for her. Unsuccessfully, of course. One of the best scenes is during a talk show with Christof about the making of the show. We learn so much about Truman's artificial world, and how much power Christof has over his life. The idea of a corporation buying a child from birth is not only sickening, but also a chilling foreshadowing of what the media will do for ratings. Sylvia has every right to be appalled by this, and the arguments between her and Christof are both compelling and intriguing.
As things come to a head, and Truman begins to rebel against his existence in Seahaven, I found myself rooted to the spot. There are seldom films these days that can have that effect on me. Truman on the sea trying to escape, Christof using every means at his disposal to stop him, the people glued to their TV screens. I was practically cheering Truman on.
I'll never forget that part at the end, when Truman finally gets out. The look on Christof's face is priceless. He looks a broken man. For the first time in his life, he's lost his power over Truman.
But the ending is truly exhilarating, and is the emotional icing on the cake. The only complaint I have with Peter Weir's film is I wish it were a little longer. I would have liked to have seen more of the relationship between Truman and his on-screen wife, and how they cope with their sexual relationship and their jobs.
But The Truman Show is still a magnificent film. A wonderful, insightful journey of one man's dreams being observed by the everyday world. As Christof puts it:
"We accept the reality of the world we're presented".
Next time you look in a mirror, make sure you really look. You may not be the only one staring back.