365 Films
Entry #132
The Truman
Show (1998)
Directed by
Peter Weir
When The
Truman Show was announced, the hype machine couldn’t help but relentlessly
ponder what would result from Jim Carrey’s first dramatic performance. To be fair, The Cable Guy, released two
years prior was certainly an antecedent but that was more of an examination of
the darker shades of Carrey’s comedic persona than an out and out dramatic
performance. The Truman Show’s
concept of a single man literally born, raised and unwittingly living a
manipulated life under the guise of a television show seemed prescient even in
the year of its release. Everybody
seemed to know where our national fixations where headed but what’s almost
quaint about the film from today’s perspective is the idea that the entire
world, let alone the nation would unite around just ONE television personality. Mindlessly flipping through today’s
offerings of hyperactive, cut to shit, and obnoxiously loud reality TV shows
almost makes me yearn for a show that had the quiet grace and patient pace of
The Truman Show. That being said,
The Truman Show remains to this day a caustically funny and touchingly odd
satire anchored by some truly profound performances. Jim Carrey, wearing a smile that seems to pain him with
every passing day doesn’t do anything too radically different from his regular
type, he simply does less with it.
Like Adam Sandler in Punch Drunk Love, the casting of Carrey and the construction
of the character indicate more an examination of the idea of a movie star than
anything else. Carrey handles the
conceptual weight with considerable ease, proving at once to be both a savvy
performer and humanely empathetic presence. Laura Linney has to wear a similarly weary mask but she
manages to inject her character with the subtlest hint of menace. To watch the scenes where she
transforms from fake-loving wife to almost authoritative security guard are a
marvel to watch. Perhaps the most standout
of the performances, however, remains Ed Harris’ Christof character. I know, I know the name is way too on
the nose but Harris creepy blend of God-like tinkerer and loving father to the
universe he has created is enough to make one forgive the offense. Watching Harris caress the screen upon
which his de facto son sleeps in that eerie green night vision is a master
class in simultaneously repelling and moving one’s audience. The Truman Show remains a stellar
example of a high concept audaciously executed and shot with generous amounts
of emotion and humanity. It asks
us to look beyond the screen into the real lives that so often populate them
and provides us a profound reason to care.
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