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The Truman Show (1998)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
5 June 1998 (USA) moreTagline:
All the world's a stage... morePlot:
An insurance salesman/adjuster discovers his entire life is actually a TV show. full summary | full synopsisAwards:
Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 29 wins & 34 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(126 articles)
Film School 101: Protagonists (From Atomic Popcorn. 1 November 2009, 4:57 AM, PST)
Carrey To Launch Zany Website
(From WENN. 26 October 2009, 1:11 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Ambitious and Entertaining Treatise on the Reality Media Creates for Us more (707 total)Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Jim Carrey | ... | Truman Burbank | |
| Laura Linney | ... | Meryl Burbank / Hannah Gill | |
| Noah Emmerich | ... | Marlon | |
| Natascha McElhone | ... | Lauren / Sylvia | |
| Holland Taylor | ... | Truman's Mother | |
| Brian Delate | ... | Truman's Father | |
| Blair Slater | ... | Young Truman | |
| Peter Krause | ... | Lawrence | |
| Heidi Schanz | ... | Vivien | |
| Ron Taylor | ... | Ron | |
| Don Taylor | ... | Don | |
| Ted Raymond | ... | Spencer | |
| Judy Clayton | ... | Travel Agent | |
| Fritz Dominique | ... | Truman's Neighbor | |
| Angel Schmiedt | ... | Truman's Neighbor |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated PG for thematic elements and mild language.Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
103 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 moreCertification:
Brazil:Livre (DVD rating) | Philippines:PG-13 | South Korea:12 | USA:PG (certificate #34959) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Belgium:KT | Brazil:12 | Chile:TE | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-12/9 | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Hong Kong:I | Iceland:L | Ireland:PG | Mexico:A | Netherlands:12 | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PGFun Stuff
Trivia:
The film is shot with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. This is close to the 1.78:1 ratio of HDTV, but way below normal 2.25:1 for standard modern movies. So the aspect ratio is more cinematic than HDTV, but only just. This makes the movie look more like TV than film. moreGoofs:
Errors in geography: The 'set' is supposed to be right behind the Hollywood sign/hills, but in the satellite view, the set is in the southeast LA region, 20 miles from the Hollywood sign. moreQuotes:
[first lines]Christof: We've become bored with watching actors give us phony emotions. We are tired of pyrotechnics and special effects. While the world he inhabits is, in some respects, counterfeit, there's nothing fake about Truman himself. No scripts, no cue cards. It isn't always Shakespeare, but it's genuine. It's a life.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Jeopardy!: 2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions Round 1, Game 37 (#21.149)" (2005) moreSoundtrack:
Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major (K. 331) (300): Third Movement: 'Alla Turca' moreFAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (707 total)
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It's not often a Hollywood film arrives with such lofty ambitions as this. On one hand this is a high concept comedy in the vein of "Groundhog Day" about an unwitting man whose entire life has been a TV show. This is also a Jim Carrey vehicle designed to display his charms. On the other hand this a very satirical look at the way the media manipulates our reality. The film also wants to take a philosophical look at free will vs. a higher power and reality vs. fantasy. It doesn't always work as the satire often keeps you from thinking too deeply about the underlying themes and the philosophical stuff keeps the satire from biting as well as it could. Credit engaging performances and solid and thoughtful direction from Weir for keeping things afloat and entertaining. There are some great cinematic moments here. I loved the "stolen kiss on the beach at night" and "Cue the sun!"
In the end this film is closer in spirit to psychological dramas and sci-fi movies where a person suddenly realizes they are the pawn in some grand experiment or a prisoner in an alien world than it is to anything in our current "reality TV" obsessed culture. Eventually it touches on a very basic conflict all humans must face (most people do so in childhood, some I fear never do). The universe does not revolve around us. In the closing moments we are excited for Truman because he finally realizes there is a whole new world out there to explore, but also slightly saddened because we know all to well that he will never be able to return to that idyllic "childhood" existence. How's it going to end? Who knows...but things will never be the same.