The Truman Show

Rating:
Summary: A Very Special Movie
Review: I have never been a big fan of Jim Carrey and his crazy on-screen antics. For that reason I wasn't expecting anything great when I first saw "The Truman Show." But I was wrong - big-time. "The Truman Show" is one of those very special movies you only come across every few years. The very original plot and convincing performances by Jim Carrey and Ed Harris caused me to experience a diverse range of emotions. "The Truman Show" can bring out laughter (with it's surprisingly sophisticated humor) and it can bring tears (I found myself feeling very sorry for Truman as the heart-rending conflict begins to rage within him). Do not be surprised if you find yourself reflecting on this movie for days and even weeks after you watch it; I did. There really is a very deep and special lesson that this movie teaches. It is one that should be sobering to us all: That in this drama called Life, we can't control everything, nor can we even begin to imagine how many lives we are impacting by our actions. If one day we are to be held accountable for what he have done in our lifetime, will we live the remainder differently? "The Truman Show" is without a doubt a very special movie. Kudos to Jim Carrey, Ed Harris, and Peter Weir!

Rating:
Summary: Jim Carrey's Finest Hour
Review: Truman Burbank is your average American. He's an insurance salesman happily married to his college sweetheart. What he doesn't realize, however, is that his world is fake. Every minute of his life has been filmed and broadcast to the rest of the world, and everyone he knows are really actors hired to fill his life. But when his carefully constructed world begins to fall apart, will he discover the truth and escape to the real world?

I am not a big Jim Carrey fan. Here, however, he gives an outstanding performance as the happy Truman who begins to realize something's not right. The story itself is part funny, part touching drama that draws you in and makes you root for Truman to learn the truth. I've watched the movie many times, and I always feel like cheering at the end. Along the way, it makes you think about our entertainment-obsessed culture in a different way.

The DVD is a bare bones offering. Beside the movie, it only offers the trailers. Still, the picture quality and sound are good.

Jim Carrey proves he can do drama quite well in this moving film. Anyone looking for a movie to entertain and lift their spirits should definitely check this one out. It's one of the best movies of the last few years.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent performance by Jim Carrey
Review: The Truman Show is an excellent movie that really shows off the range of Jim Carrey. Truman Burbank has been unknowingly taped and put on TV for his whole life. Bought at birth by a huge corporation, Truman is his own tv show broadcast all over the world. Everyone around him is an actor. For almost 30 years, nothing goes wrong, but as Truman grows older he begins to realize something is up and tries to find out what. This is a great movie that blends comedy and drama. Carrey has some physical comedy, but much less than in his other films. Watching Truman try to figure things out are the best scenes in the movie. Boosting the movie is an excellent score by Burkhard Dallwitz. This is a very good movie with something for everyone.

Jim Carrey has never been better than his role as Truman Burbank, a man who is unknowingly the star of his own TV show. This part really allowed him to show that he is more than just a physical comedian. Ed Harris is equally as good as Christof, the creator of The Truman Show who is so dedicated to his creation that he refuses to let if fail. Laura Linney and Noah Emmerich also star as Meryl, Truman's wife, and Marlon, Truman's best friend since he was seven. The DVD offers tv spots, theatrical trailers, and the widescreen presentation. This is a surprisingly good movie. The ending is beautifully scripted as Truman tries to find out what is really going on. For a very good movie with an excellent performance by Jim Carrey, check out The Truman Show!

Rating:
Summary: Good but Should Have Been a Classic
Review: Truman Show has a great premise and was an insightful predictor of the reality TV craze which has now come about. Carrey does some very good work in this role. Still the movie seems to lack something and never really delivers the bang it should have. The ultimate destructive impact to the individual under the microscope is never really explored and should have been the focus. Overall a good watch but not a classic by any means.

Rating:
Summary: Carrey Puts On A Good "Show"
Review: Jim Carrey. What can you say?. You either love him and see his incredible talent, or you hate him and refuse to see or acknowledge his talent. If you fall into the latter, well, that's too bad. Carrey went and tried to do something different with this film. He tried to show that he can act too. If you still don't see it, I recommend you seeing the early 90's TV movie "Doing Time On Maple Drive". In this film, Carrey plays Truman Burbank. A seemingly normal guy with a very normal, everyday life. He has a great house in a very picturesque seaside town, a great wife, and a good job. This is real life isn't it?. Then, Truman's world comes crashing down all around him. Everything he knew and had and throught to be true, turned out to be one big lie. Nothing is real. It seems that his whole life has been televised for the whole world to see. This isn't a town. It's a set. everything isn't real. His family members are all actors being paid for the job. The whole operation is being overseen by a producer, played very beautifully by the Oscar nominated Ed Harris, who's always good. At first, Truman thinks he's losing the mind. Then the truth comes out. This is a real showcase for Carrey and his talent. Yes, he is good. Yes, he can act. Yes, he's brilliantly talented. Some people already have their view on him and refuse to let actual truth come to them. It's a real shame. The movie was wonderfully directed with a real airy and haunting feel by Peter Weir. And don't worry Carrey fans, there is some goofball moments that will please the die hard fans of Carrey's comedic work. He should've been nominated for the Oscar. Weir and Harris were, but the star of the movie who made it work wasn't?. Where's the logic in that?. Oh well. "The Truman Show" is a fine piece of film. You'll likely have a nice experience viewing it.

Rating:
Summary: Man's Search for Freedom
Review: I must confess that I don't care for most modern television and motion pictures. Modern productions seem to always have generous helpings of foul language, sex, vomiting and bathroom scenes, but this film is a notable exception. Here, the human condition as experienced in the early 21st century is explored in a humorous and satirical way, but with real questions about man's search for meaning, both as an individual and in society in general being explored. This film uncannily anticipated what so-called "reality" television would be like, showing that "reality" as perceived by Hollywood, or rather, what Hollywood perceives people thinking reality is, is something out of a nightmare. Perceptive viewers will note that the "town" Truman lives in is very similar in some ways to "the village" seen in the classic television series "The Prisoner" starring Patrick McGoohan, including people aimlessly riding about on bicycles. Although everything seems nice and ordered, it is a sterile world filled with artificial emotions and constant surveillance. Jim Carrey, whom I was not a big fan of before seeing this film puts in a stellar performance, appearing in almost every scene of the film and Ed Harris plays his usual authoritarian-type character in a chilling way.

Today, "freedom" is defined as "doing whatever you want" (e.g. "if it feels good, do it!"), but the Founding Fathers of the United States regarded it rather as the ability to reach one's maximum potential without artificial, outside constraints, even if this proves to be difficult and uncomfortable (one example being the homesteaders of the 19th century American West who actually often faced great dangers in exercising their freedom). This is the choice that is confronted in this motion picture. Although the ending doesn't really present the choice in these stark terms, Truman must make his decision and live with the consequences.

Rating:
Summary: The origins of "Reality TV."
Review: This film was brilliant in almost every regard. Jim Carrey's performance was incredibly believable. You saw his vulnerabilty and confusion toward the end. Ed Harris shows his love for Truman but his unwillingness to let Truman experience anything that would make him more human undermines what he's trying to do.

It also pointed out the flaws in the system, the main problem is that they made it too perfect and made it follow their own scripts instead of letting Truman discover these things for himself. They didn't allow him to have a legitimate and a real love interest and instead forced on him the relationship they wanted. But beyond that it shows the increasing voyeurism of the viewers.

The Truman Show shows us what television is like know, even though it was filmed in 1998. It's really a remarkable and prophetic view of what we would and will continue to be interested in on TV. From Christof's first speech: people tired of seeing fake emotions and special effects to when he says,"We accept the reality of the world with which we're presented." We accept it as being reality, even though we latch on a little cynicism knowing that there is story editing, casted stereotypes, and "confessionals." The "reality" is sucked out. Obviously, I'm not a fan of reality televison and all it creates.

Bravo Peter Weir, BRAVO! Thank You!!

Rating:
Summary: So amusing for everyone
Review: A man called Truman (Jim Carrey) lives on an island somewhere. The life inside is quite normal for him. He looks like a current guy who works in an office, but actually, he's the most regarded man in the world. I explain: the whole island is in fact a hidden TV studio, full of cameras placed everywhere in order to follow him, because he is the main part of the programme on television. All people know this, but Truman doesn't, so they act to make the stage a normal city. However, he begins to notice some weird events, for example, the surprise of seeing his dead father like a beggar in the street and a large amount of people who suddenly bring him away.
This movie is so funny because of these incidents, which make you understand the trick and laugh all the time. Nevertheless, when he realizes all this, you see that it isn't funny at all, because he feels he's been living in an illusory world. Nobody loves him in fact, so he decides to escape out of the island in order to find a place with no lies. All is a trap. In this moment you see his frustration because of the incapability of being able to do that inside his comical appearance. This is the first movie in which Jim Carrey stars in with a serious portrayal, despite he's amusing in many moments.
I liked it a lot. It is one of the most enjoyable movies I have ever seen because of the so entertaining situations in which he gets involved. Also, the comedy turns into a drama at the end. Will he finish living in a world where real people exist and love, without lies nor being the point of attention to everybody? Anyway, even being the man who attracts all people's interest, nobody cares about him when he crosses the door outside the island to an unknown place and they just finish up by ignoring him and choosing another channel.

Rating:
Summary: The Truman Show is one of the best movies made this decade.
Review: In an era of popcorn movies with asteroids and aliens, it's refreshing to view a movie in which your exiting thought doesn't concern how to extract that tightly lodged kernel from your upper right tooth. The Truman show is an intellectually engaging movie that will keep you thinking long after viewing it. Jim Carrey stars as Truman Burbank an ordinary guy, who doesn't realize that his entire life(with the exception of breathing) is fiction. His wife, friends, parents, neighbors, and fellow townspeople are all actors; part of an elaborate internationally acclaimed television show attempting to give full coverage, 24 hours a day, of an entire human life. In order to sustain the television show, its' creator, Cristof, played to near perfection by Ed Harris, must keep Truman from attempting to leave the world's largest sound stage by manipulating his hopes and fears. A strong premise, wonderful acting, and exceptional directing by Peter Weir make the Truman Show an entertaining and thought-provoking film. The Truman show is a modern tale of hope, fear, and the human spirit. It's sure to be one of the classics of this decade.

Rating:
Summary: The subversive nature of the media represented through film
Review: This movie has two true modes of representation: how television perpetuates through society and how people treat celebrities. First of all, Truman is no more a victim than a result of circumstances. His fate was ultimately chosen by a dictatorial creator (played brilliantly by Ed Harris, who deserved an Oscar nomination rightly so). But as Truman discovers the truth about his pre-ordained life, the "audience" becomes captivated. The people in the bar console each other and try to rationalize Truman's decisions. The real truth about television is revealed at the very end when the two security men say "What else is on?" after Truman escapes. We, as Americans, have so readily counted on television as a main source of not only entertainment, but solace. We live our lives through the medium of the character. So, in a way, this movie is a "movie within a movie."

Additionally, the movie symbolizes in some small way how we idolize celebrities. Truman is a celebrity. The people in Seahaven are all aware, but do not tell him he is on T.V. Rather, they all "act." This is somewhat interesting because in a way, the actors may want to keep Truman on the island, not only for their jobs' sake, but also because he is an idol.

The truth is, however, that television has a commanding grasp on the American public, and that is the point of the movie. We lift the minority of celebrities (Harris as the director, the media, etc.) on our shoulders. It's almost as if we are brainwashed by T.V.

Harris's character is most intriguing. You don't know if he is helping Truman or hurting him. Harris plays a somewhat symbolic father. He believes that since he gave Truman "a life to live," that he knows what is right for Truman. That knowledge also gives Harris the ability to destroy him, as exemplified by the storm scene at the end.

Overall, this movie is unique and ground-breaking, and I recommend it to all.