It’s been brought to my attention that just about every 8-12 months I get into long drawn out conversations about The Truman Show. I feel that I’m currently tipping the 12-month range so I was fortunate to catch it this weekend because it sparked something. I wanted to take a moment and lather, rinse, repeat – The Truman Show is completely and totally underrated.
Even if the movie didn’t have Jim Carrey aka The most bankable movie star at the time, this would stand alone as something that was so completely inventive and ahead of it’s time. Speaking of Carrey, this was his first non “I’m morphing my face” film when he was a star and I think that speaks volumes about the project itself.
As I watched this movie over the weekend I got a tad bit reminiscent and I need you to stick with me for a second. I specifically remember going with my buddy and two girls, one of those girls I had a massive crush on, the other was the buffer chick for the girl I had a crush on to default to when we got weird because we were 13. I walked into the movie with a super crush that could define me at the time and I left the movie basically forgetting that I even went with her, and somehow had an even bigger man crush on Jim Carrey movies. To my knowledge this was one of few films that really did this for me.
The film was more than just some movie, it was something that made you actually think about the possibility of a life being recorded for 24 hours a day without knowing and the future of entertainment. After thinking about the possibility you realize that this will probably one day be a reality and then it takes the next step of diving into the layer of our society and why we’re so voyeuristic. Why are we so curious of others? What makes their lives so special? Why am I investing in a person that doesn’t know I exist?
…And that’s what the Truman Show did for me. It made me ask questions and think about where we’re going. It also allowed me to look at Jim Carrey in a totally different way. Since we’re on the subject - Jim Carrey got robbed at the 1998 Academy Awards, the guy wasn’t even nominated, yet he won the Golden Globe that same year. ANNND since we’re on this subject I should probably note he was snubbed a year later with “Man On The Moon.”
I digress.
From a film point of view I think the structure of this film is insanely unique. Without getting to deep into this, it’s not your typical structured film but at the same time it is (wrap your head around that). The film doesn’t show its hand for the first 30 minutes which means we’re basically living with Truman and watching what everyone else is watching… That’s the brilliance of it!
I don’t feel like this movie gets enough credit. Come to think about it, I don’t know who would be giving the credit or how this can even be measured but I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say that they were influenced from this film.
Does this make me crazy? Am I the only one? I can’t be. Can I?
If you haven’t seen The Truman Show do yourself a favor and watch it. I don’t imagine how you can be disappointed, and if you are, you need to let me know so I can set you straight - Cause you’re nuts.
Note to self: Future underrated movie rant - Vanilla Sky.