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| The Truman Show 7 of 10 |
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| Directed by Peter Weir Cinematography by Peter Biziou Jim Carrey Ed Harris Laura Linney Noah Emmerich Natascha McElhone |
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| Finally, a film for the clinically paranoid! A clever movie version of Descartes' unsolvable problem: how do you know you are really living your life? What if it's all an elaborate hoax? What if everyone's an actor and your life is essentially being scripted by someone else? The premise sounds pretty absurd, but the film is gripping, whether or not you believe it plausible. You are constantly being asked to step outside your skin, and imagine what things would look like if someone really was orchestrating them from afar, and then broadcasting it to the entire world. Overall, the acting is excellent, and Ed Harris is superb. His Christof (note the interesting selection of the name) is an incredible character: complex, alternately appealing and disturbing, and always interesting. Despite his very real affection for Truman, there is something deeply wrong with him. At the conclusion of the film, you finally realize what that problem is; he calls himself The Creator, and he really believes in his own omnipotence. In fact, the most interesting thought I had after viewing the film was: what happens to Christof? How could he possibly survive this? All in all, a very interesting examination of human nature, and its ability to think its way out of "impossible" situations. In fact, the only false note for me was exactly what critics found most praiseworthy: Truman Burbank himself. Jim Carrey is simply too goofy. I know, I know. Compared to his previous films, he seems like Boris Karloff this time around. And its impressive that he can tone down his act so drastically. But a normal person would have made Weir's point better here, I think. This is a fly in the ointment, but it's a very small one. "Truman, there's no more truth out there than in the world I created for you -- the same lies and deceit. But in my world you have nothing to fear." |
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