The Truman Show is a movie that fantastically portrays human connection and a desperate need to find the truth in life. Like most, I had heard of The Truman Show and understood the plot. It is about a man whose whole life is a reality show, but he is unaware.
The Truman Show is a comedy and drama starring Jim Carrey and directed by Peter Weir. Jim Carrey plays Truman Burbank, a regular man who is unaware he has been the star of a 24-hour reality show since he was born. Everyone in his life, such as his wife, best friend, and mom, is a paid actor, and he has significant plot points scripted out for him and carried out by those around him.
The movie starts on the 10,909th episode of Truman’s life. Right off the bat, we see that cameras surround Truman, and we later find out that there are over 5,000 hidden throughout Seahaven Island, which is the fake city created for Truman to live in, secluded from the real world.
This movie was beautifully directed and included many small yet exciting details. Since The Truman Show runs 24/7, they do not cut for commercials, meaning there are many in-your-face advertisements. On his way to work, Truman is approached by two men he knows, and they strategically force him in front of an ad on the streets, which is very subconscious advertising.
Shortly after, Truman is hanging out with his best friend, Marlon. He is shown in a sort of isolated black void drinking a beer and almost stares directly into the camera and says, “Now that’s a beer,” in typical commercial form.
He is never seen without a case of it, almost as if he is the spokesperson.
Truman’s wife, Meryl, also takes a lot of ad time. Throughout the movie, she shows a variety of products to her husband and recites everything that would typically be heard in an ad. As the film continued, I noticed it seemed to get more direct, almost more forced.
She would look more into the camera with every chance as if to break the imaginary fourth wall and recite even more facts about whatever product was in her hands. It became less about Truman and their conversation and more about the Mococoa brand drink she was holding. The advertisement in this movie, whether it was direct or subconscious, was always presented creatively.
This movie had a great way of formatting. It spends such a long time forming the exposition and rising action of Truman’s life and the story, yet it is all so appropriately timed.
In the first scene, in which we see Truman at his job, he is on the phone trying to get connected to a woman in Fiji, who we soon learn is a woman he met back in his school years, previous to starting his scripted relationship with Meryl, and they had such a unique connection. Truman spends so much of the movie yearning for Lauren Garland and is desperate to reach her in Fiji.
As previously mentioned by Christof, The Truman Show is a lifestyle. People spend so much time and energy on this unassuming man and his day-to-day life. We see people own shirts and pillows and even buy the products advertised in the show.
This movie is chalked full of incredible cinematography. Everything is very picturesque, and I enjoyed the many switches from what felt like typical fast-paced reality TV camera shots to your standard film shots. Truman lives on a set made for the screen, so everything is faked.
There is a scene with Truman and Marlon sitting on the beach after Truman starts to get freaked out about everything. Marlon makes a comment saying, “Look at the sunset, Truman, it’s perfect,” and it is true that the sunset in that shot is stunning, but not because of nature. It is stunning because of a team of studio executives making it look that way.
Watching Truman catch on to everything in his life and just how artificial it all honestly seems is fascinating.
I absolutely loved this movie, and it kept me captivated the whole time, anxiously waiting for Truman to catch on. It also left me heartbroken knowing that Truman was lied to his whole life and missing genuine connections with others.
“The movie makes you contemplate your life in a way that you haven’t before,” Sarah Allen said.
It really stirs up the question of what is true in life, and that is exactly what Truman spent his time searching out. He looked for the truth about Lauren, the truth about his father and the truth about the TV show he was a part of without even knowing.
“It gave me constant paranoia that I’m always watched,” Ella Clark said.
This movie makes many paranoid because Truman did not even really realize anything was wrong until he was a full adult, and the movie portrays it almost like one of those “it can happen to anyone” scenarios.
Anyone who wants to spend their evening being captivated by a story while also thinking about the human connections in their life and really pondering on the truth of their situations should take the time to sit down and watch The Truman Show.
