The Truman Show

The Truman Show is a movie that I definitely heard about when I was younger but I never really got around to seeing it. However, now, in 2016, after watching a lot of the movies in Jim Carrey's career like Bruce Almighty, Eternal Sunshine, and Yes Man, I realized that The Truman Show falls into a sect of Carrey's career that I don't think gets enough appreciation.

Jim Carrey has always been known as a goof ball. With roles like Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber, and Ace Ventura, on top of his work in In Living Color, he's very well known for his light hearted, slap stick comedy roles where he makes goofy faces. And the guy is talented at it. I laugh my ass off every time I watch this clip from Dumb and Dumber.

But there is another side of Jim Carrey that I don't think we see quite enough. And I actually think its a side of him that he wanted to get out more and more later in his career. And that's his light hearted hopeful side.

And don't get me wrong, even Lloyd Christmas had his light hearted hopeful feelings, but I'm talking about movies that Carrey chose that weren't necessarily always comedies and were more focused on the message and feelings of hope and optimism.

Enter The Truman Show.

The Truman Show literally centers on a man named Truman Burbank (played by Carrey). Truman was an unwanted baby who was adopted by a corporation and was made the center of a television show called The Truman Show. The world is enamored by his life which he believes, until the events of this movie, are totally normal and not artificial or TV at all.

Accompanied by his wife (played by Laura Linney) his best friend (played by Noah Emmerich) and a whole cast of too good to be true family and friends, Truman goes about his day not really knowing that his entire world is being directed and staged by director Christoph (played by Ed Harris).

But Truman soon starts to see the cracks in the armor and starts to question his reality.

The entire movie is filmed as if you are watching The Truman Show, with clever lenses and framing on the screen to make it seem like Truman is being spied on this entire time, which he is. And every once in a while, you'll see the audiences responses and how in love they are with this character as he has become a global phenomena. Despite the unethical treatment and misleading of a human being.

And if you're thinking to yourself, Wow, that actually sounds a lot more serious than it looks and actually sounds a little sadistic, you'd be right to think that.

Don't get me wrong, you can still kind of count this as a comedy in a way because it does have a comedic edge to it, Jim Carrey is very light hearted at times, and there's only so serious you can inject into a silly plot like this. However, the movie does take itself seriously enough that you're not really laughing as much as you think you would be with a premise like this and it actually is a much more serious movie than you think. Almost to a point where you are surprised how bummed out you are by the plot.

That isn't to say that the performances aren't good. In fact, this is really kind of a great cast.

You of course have Jim Carrey who really brings out his A game. He's not basing his performance on goofy faces or comedic timing, he's actually acting, which is not something you see in all his films. Its a very similar feeling you get from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. You feel like it might not work in the beginning but then you watch him give a really good performance and you're suddenly like, yeah, Jim Carrey is a really good actor along with being a really funny guy.

But on top of all of that, this movie again, literally, focuses on him. He is the star of a movie where he is the star of a TV show. He has to be a very likable character, otherwise we don't really care what happens to him in the show as well as in the movie. And the movie does a really good job at making you feel like you are watching the show while you're watching the movie.

But the rest of the cast is very good as well. 

The supporting cast, in both the movie and the TV show, are his wife played by Laura Linney, and his

best friend.

They do some pretty fun social commentary, especially when his wife is trying to plug advertisement into their normal conversations. I really liked how you definitely saw some of the people as actors and yet at the same time, you realize that these people have been the family and friends of Truman his entire life. To them, they are real when in reality they aren't.

Again, why is this movie often mistaken for a comedy?

There's a great part where he's having a meaningful conversation with his friend and you figure out that all his lines are being fed to him by the direct Christoph. It really makes the entire process hard to handle at times. That is one thing about the movie is that you have these very dark and kind of disturbing things that happen in the film and then some of it is followed up by an attempt at humor. Comedy is not the main purpose of this film but there are times when it shows up that it just feels inappropriate and out of place.

Of course I don't think they should have made this movie a straight up serious film with no comedy, I think it would be even more depressing than it already is if they had done that, but I think it just has its times where the comedy doesn't work and t feels out of place.

And then there's the director.

How can you not love Ed Harris. The guy is just a stellar actor and he knows exactly what he's doing.

Christoph is able to both be a sort of strange father like figure to Truman, a representation of God, and also a ruthless villain just making life a living hell for Truman. This is a really well done performance especially with him throwing in the tropes you've seen in every movie with a director. He's basically a super villain if a super villain was the director of a hit television show. It is done so well and Ed Harris is one of the best parts of this movie.

But what am I talking about when I say that this movie falls into a category of movies that Jim Carrey has done that is just a different side of him?

Yes Carrey has had some weird moments in his career, both on and off the screen...

Now I could talk about a whole other issue with that video. My point is, while he's had his creepy moments, Carrey has always been able to make people laugh and make people feel happy. Even that creepy video in its own way made me laugh really hard to how creepy it was.

But there's a series of movies in his filmography, where the point wasn't to make people laugh just for the sake of making them laugh, its to spread some kind of message of hope, or just make people happy through the story.

While Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a very sad movie, you come out of that movie with a glimmer of hope. Especially if you've gone through a breakup, you feel like you can get out of any rut and you can move forward with endless possibilities in front of you.

While Bruce Almighty is incredibly funny and it has a lot of the Jim Carrey-isms you are familiar with, it does have a really light hearted message about faith and you really walk out of that movie with a good feeling.

The same can be said about Yes Man. Especially with the scene where Jim Carrey plays the guitar and gets a guy to come off a ledge by singing Third Eye Blind.

My point in all of this is that The Truman Show is an example of Jim Carrey just being an honest actor and ending the movie on a really hopeful note that just makes you feel happy, especially after a plot that if you trim away all the bright colors and unintentional Jim Carrisms that he can't really control, you come out of the movie with a really good feeling at the end. 

While the tone of the movie is confusing, I really enjoyed The Truman Show. As long as you go into it with no expectations and want to see a really creative set up, I think you will like The Truman Show as well. 

But what did you think? Have you seen The Truman Show? How does it compare to Carrey's other films? What do you think works better for Carrey? Slapstick or honest acting? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as send me your requests for movies I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog. 

I'll leave you with this. Every mainstream actor or public figure usually has their own inspiring commencement speech that they gave. And here's one from Jim Carrey. Enjoy!