The Truman Show was a big hit. A $60MM “art” film, as a nervous Paramount executive apparently described it, unaware that the combination of Carrey and an intriguing, clever idea would resonate so well and reach $264MM gross at the worldwide box office. It’s more than just a match-up of a popular actor and a clever idea, though. Something about the film connects, something conjured between the idea and the plot. Did audiences feel the film to be a meditation on choice, the freedom of the individual over the nature of fate or control (whatever that controlling entity would be), or see it as an expression of our inherent need to have and pursue dreams against a world hellbent on dashing or dismissing them? Maybe it was just the fun of seeing Jim Carrey bounce around a show he didn’t know he was in. Whatever the larger point writer Andrew Niccol and director Peter Weir were making, The Truman Show is an unusual experience driven to the compelling by Jim Carrey’s stunningly endearing, earnest, innocent, and demure performance. And it holds up in 2023, 25 years after it first arrived in movie theaters around the world.
The Production: 4.5/5
“We’ve become bored with watching actors give us phony emotions. We are tired of pyrotechnics and special effects. While the world he inhabits is, in some respects, counterfeit, there’s nothing fake about Truman himself. No scripts, no cue cards. It isn’t always Shakespeare, but it’s genuine. It’s a life.”
Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) lives a simple life as an insurance salesman in a quiet, friendly seaside town where everyone says “hello,” everyone knows your name, and where everything seems to be perfect. But everything isn’t perfect, at least to Truman, whose burgeoning sense of dissatisfaction and curiosity has begun to unsettle him, and those around him. Truman is right, though. Not only is everything not as perfect as it appears to be, it’s also not at all real. Truman’s life is a lie. The town is fake, the townsfolk are actors, and Truman is the star of a reality show he has no idea about. And things are about to change.
Written by the talented Andrew Niccol (writer/director of Gattaca, Lord of War, etc.,) and directed by the gifted Peter Weir, The Truman Show is an important film. Under Weir’s direction, the satire is camouflaged in drama and sweet comedy, resonating to the point of perfection. We’re introduced to Truman’s world as if it were real. We don’t see behind the curtains, as it were; rather, right away. We simply see a warm slice of small-town America that America imagined for itself. Wrapped in a 1950s aesthetic and mood, it’s a recreation of a fictionalized era and a world that’s simple and predictable. Weir slowly, carefully begins to break the artifice for Truman, and us, and it’s absorbing.
When The Truman Show premiered 25 years ago, the obsession with reality TV was in its infancy. It excels when it explores the boundaries of artifice and pretense, human experience as entertainment, and the nature of manipulation and how we affect what we observe (as any scientist will tell you). Throughout it all, Jim Carrey is unendingly compelling as the naïve Truman. Carrey was best known for his absurd comedy at the time, with starring roles in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, and Liar Liar that had launched him into a comedy blockbuster realm precious few have known. Like so many great comedic actors, Carrey had demanding dramatic roles in him bursting for a canvas upon which to spread, and The Truman Show was a wonderful canvas where that dramatic prowess could begin to show itself, side by side with his humor skillset. He’s brilliant in the role.
The supporting cast are all fine. Ed Harris, an extraordinary actor, is good but despite a couple of important scenes, is almost entirely behind the scenes. He comes off as erudite, a quiet genius unconcerned with anything but his (morally questionable) creation. Laura Linney is good playing Meryl Burbank, an actor cast to fall in love with and eventually wed Truman (someone that we, the audience, don’t care for). Natascha McElhone as Lauren, the actor on the show with whom Carrey develops a crush and eventually a forlorn longing, is used well. But Noah Emmerich as Marlon, Truman’s best friend, is exceptional. There’s a sense about his performance where you are unsure if he is fully and honestly Truman’s friend or entirely an actor playing a part. It’s a strong performance. Look for Holland Taylor (as Truman’s ‘mom’), Harry Shearer, Paul Giamatti and Philip Baker Hall to make appearances, too.
Video: 5/5
3D Rating: NA
Paramount’s The Truman Show in 4K is a winner. Shot on 35mm in 1.85:1 aspect ratio (a couple of scenes excepted), what you get is a wonderful presentation. Natural film grain, fine, strong detail, natural flesh tones, and the Dolby Vision HDR grading seems to improve the contrast, enrich the colors, and deepen the black levels. The film was always bright, warm but strong in the blues and whites. With excellent detail, fabric on clothing, pores on skin, but filmic. An excellent transfer.
Audio: 4.5/5
Perhaps surprisingly, Paramount gives this release a Dolby Atmos track and while not a reference disc, the film benefits from this audio. A dialogue heavy picture without much by way of surround sound effects, the main beneficiary here is the musical score by Burkhard Dallwitz (with additional tracks by Philip Glass). The music becomes more ethereal, surrounding with this Atmos track, suiting the classical and minimalist-infused score nicely.
Special Features: 2/5
Previously available special features available on the accompanying Blu-ray disc (likely a repackage of the previously available Blu release of the film). Nothing exhaustive or involving here, nothing new, and I would have loved a commentary from Niccol.
- How’s It Going to End? The Making of The Truman Show – Two-Part Documentary
- Faux Finishing—The Visual Effects of The Truman Show
- Deleted Scenes
- Photo Gallery
- Theatrical Trailers
- TV Spots
Overall: 4.5/5
The Truman Show was a big hit. A $60MM “art” film, as a nervous Paramount executive apparently described it, unaware that the combination of Carrey and an intriguing, clever idea would resonate so well and reach $264MM gross at the worldwide box office. It’s more than just a match-up of a popular actor and a clever idea, though. Something about the film connects, something conjured between the idea and the plot. Did audiences feel the film to be a meditation on choice, the freedom of the individual over the nature of fate or control (whatever that controlling entity would be), or see it as an expression of our inherent need to have and pursue dreams against a world hellbent on dashing or dismissing them? Maybe it was just the fun of seeing Jim Carrey bounce around a show he didn’t know he was in. Whatever the larger point writer Andrew Niccol and director Peter Weir were making, The Truman Show is an unusual experience driven to the compelling by Jim Carrey’s stunningly endearing, earnest, innocent, and demure performance. And it holds up in 2023, 25 years after it first arrived in movie theaters around the world.
Neil has been a member of the Home Theater Forum reviewing staff since 2007, approaching a thousand reviews and interviews with actors, directors, writers, stunt performers, producers and more in that time. A senior communications manager and podcast host with a Fortune 500 company by day, Neil lives in the Charlotte, NC area with his wife and son, serves on the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Charlotte Board of Directors, and has a passion for film scores, with a collection in the thousands.
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