“The Truman Show” is an American dramedy film that was released on June 5, 1998 to critical and commercial acclaim. It stars Jim Carrey as the title character, as well as Laura Linney and Ed Harris. The film was directed by Australian filmmaker Peter Weir, best known for his work on “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” and “The Way Back.”
The film follows Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey), a happily married man with a stable office job. He doesn’t know it, but he’s been watched for his entire life. He’s being broadcast to the entire world as the star of “The Truman Show” which, in-universe, is being directed by Christof (Ed Harris).
Burbank starts to suspect some foul play is going on when he encounters a homeless man on his way to work that looks eerily similar to his late father who he had thought died when he was a child. It gets weirder when police officers take the homeless man away and shove him onto a bus seemingly to stay away from him.
The way the film uses camera angles to show the audience perspective is really impressive. The cinematography makes it profoundly easy to tell when what you are seeing is what the audience in the film is watching.
The scene where Burbank walks out into the street, and realizes everything revolves around him is simply iconic, and it’s just one of many iconic scenes in the movie, including the opening where before heading off to work, he greets his neighbors across the street and says “In case I don’t see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night.”
Jim Carrey delivered a truly legendary performance. In fact, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture for his performance. He is easily the highlight of the film. The way Carrey portrays Burbank as he descends into madness is mesmerizing and genuinely impressive, it truly feels like you’re watching a man’s mental state decline in real time as he realizes everything he had known his entire life may have been fake.
The soundtrack was also spectacular. Composed by Burkhard Dallwitz and Philip Glass, Dallwitz has also composed the scores for films like “The Way Back” and “Red Obsession,” and Glass is credited with the scores for “Candyman” and “The Hours.” The soundtrack gave off an atmospheric vibe, especially during the scenes where Burbank is talking with his best friend Marlon (Noah Emmerich) and childish during flashbacks to Burbank’s childhood.
“The Truman Show” delivers on everything from the plot to the characters to the soundtrack and more. It’s truly worthy of being considered one of the greatest films of all time. It’s definitely deserving of a rating of 4.9📼 out of 5.0📼, and in case I don’t see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night.
