The Truman Show
Published December 16, 2018
Film info
- Title The Truman Show
- Director Peter Weir
- Year 1998
- Run time 1hr 43m
- Genres Comedy, Drama
- Tagline On the air, unaware
He's the star of the show - but he doesn't know. Jim Carrey wowed critics and audiences alike as unwitting Truman Burbank in this marvel of a movie from director Peter Weir about a man whose life is a nonstop TV show. Truman doesn't realise that his quaint hometown is a giant studio set run by a visionary producer/director/creator (Ed Harris), that folks living and working there are Hollywood actors, that even his incessantly bubbly wife is a contract player. Gradually, Truman gets wise. And what he does about his discovery will have you laughing, crying and cheering like few film stories ever have.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 0:42 | “It isn’t always Shakespeare but it’s genuine. It’s a life.” |
| 4:01 | Quick, come up with an excuse for a falling light! |
| 9:37 | Dicer, grater, peeler all in one? That’s weird. |
| 10:51 | “You can’t get any further away before you start coming back.” |
| 17:17 | It feels like “I am not a number”, you know, village that you can never leave. |
| 24:35 | I need to investigate pin badges more. |
| 29:06 | The photofit is kinda creepy, I gotta say. |
| 34:59 | Somehow never thought about the people that have to restock the vending machine. |
| 42:56 | The deterrents to travelling are really not fun - lightning strike on an airplane! |
| 47:26 | I feel like I would have noticed a loop quicker than he has. |
| 51:14 | Why do they have cameras for the road over the bridge? They obviously never thought he’d get that far. |
| 55:35 | I really like their ’edge of the road’ hangout, so spooky. |
| 1:00:13 | They have to do live music too, they put so much effort into this TV show! |
| 1:05:01 | 5,000 cameras. |
| 1:13:47 | Don’t have a cat in a studio, are you crazy? |
| 1:18:41 | So, the moon’s a spotlight. Just so you know. |
| 1:25:54 | I remembered the light at the beginning and the boat bump at the end, everything between has been a revelation. |
Conclusions
Ooh, loved this. I’ve seen it once before, a long time ago, and I remember it being good but vaguely being disappointed by the ending. I think that might be why I’ve never suggested we watch it before and Mr C has never seen it. But it arrived in a film bundle and we needed a brief respite from all the Christmas stuff.
Really, really loved it, I think it’s Carrey’s best film and, it speaks on so many levels that at the time must have been quite eye-opening but now we are in the reality TV hell world that this movie predicted, has a whole new meaning.
What I like about this film is that everyone’s motivations are believable and understandable. You think the producer guy is mean and twisted, but in his eyes he was giving an unwanted baby a pretty reasonable life. You think the friend is quite harsh for lying and begging for trust that is not deserved, but he just wants to do what’s best whilst keeping his job. (Apparently there’s a deleted scene where the friend does the right thing and I so wish that had been kept in.)
Good movie, fascinating and unique (at the time) premise, well-acted and leaves you with plenty to think about.
Rating: 5/5.
Rating: 5 / 5