On the air. Unaware.
Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) has the feeling that he's being watched. He doesn't know how right he is.
Every second of every day, from the moment he was born, for the last thirty years, Truman has been the unwitting star of the longest running, most popular documentary/soap opera in history. The picture perfect town of Seahaven that he calls home is actually a gigantic sound stage. Truman's friends and family - everyone he meets, in fact - are actors. He lives every moment under the unblinking eye of hidden TV cameras.
Also starring Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Nastacha Mcelhone, Holland Taylor and Ed Harris. Directed by Peter Weir.
Special Agent Matti
This is a dark and twisted tale that pokes its sticky fingers into more than just the morality of shows like Sylvania waters with their tell-all tabloid style of journalism. It also takes pokes at the advertising industry, the acting industry and the morality of the media (if there is such a thing).
Jim is a good choice for the role of Truman because he does that likeable goof thing so well. There aren't too many Carreyisms to put up with and he manages to be both funny and pathetic at the same time. What he didn't manage is to look 18 but you all know how to willingly suspend your disbelief, don't you?
The supporting cast (as in the actors who play the actors playing real people) have been well chosen, handling a broad range of performance from Strong artificial performance to Strong real performance. Laura's Sunny wife and Noah's Best friend are crucially important to the success of the film and they do the roles very well.
The sets are great - very realistically artificial - and the effects are mostly very good. The sense of naturalness and unreality is astounding.
This is a surprisingly entertaining film that is well worth watching. What's more, it's actually very funny.
PG (Adult themes, low level coarse language)
3 December 1999