The Truman Show

Comment:
I can hardly believe that I went to see a movie featuring Jim Carrey as the main character and that I even liked it! However, The Truman Show is really a great movie and Jim Carrey, albeit still showing some of his well known rubber-faces, provides a solid and charming performance.

I think that everybody, in a moment of paranoia, may have had the feeling of being observed or that the world was all fake and so on. Well, the world of Truman Burbank was really like that: since his birth he has been the unaware star of a TV show about his own life. All his supposed friends were actors, the city where he lived was built in a big sphere and even the weather was controlled by the almighty director of the show. Everything was going fine until Truman started to notice various strange events that, for example, prevented him from leaving the town and so he decided to 'escape'...

The first thing that I liked is the atmosphere which immediately reveals that everything around Truman is fake. These details become more and more evident as the movie proceeds and usually the result is very funny. I liked the idea of the commercials 'hidden' into Truman's life, he is often shown as an unwilling mean of advertisement of various 'real-life' products. However, the most entertaining moments are connected to the attempts of Truman to leave the town, when everybody and everything is focused on making him change his plans (in particular, the pointless travel agency full of writings advising people against traveling!).

This is just the 'light' and entertaining side of the movie but what makes it so good is the allegorical side. In fact, the story provides a good opportunity to think about life, about the reality, about the relationship with other people. Is our life similar to Truman's, we see the reality in a 'subjective' way, but is it effectively 'true'? Are we really free, is there a 'Big Brother' (or call it 'God') who looks after us, who pushes us in a direction rather than another? What is our relationship with TV, does it show 'truths' or does it simply drive us where somebody else wants? The movie doesn't answer to these questions directly, we can draw our own conclusions... can we?!

The last scene is perfect in its simplicity, its metaphorical meaning and its deep implications and reading-keys. In fact, it clearly shows the 'religious' side of the story where 'God' talks to 'Truman' and gives him the choice between the safety of the controlled 'light' or the uncertainty of the undiscovered 'dark'... everybody can easily guess what he chooses. After all, this movie seems to be a good choice for everybody, if you only perceive the 'surface' you'll be pleased by the funny comedy and intrigued by the plot, but the only way to fully appreciate it is to analyze it in a deeper way.