The Truman Show

The Truman Show

The life of Truman Burbank has been broadcast around the world with tremendous success since the day he was born. A star for the mere fact that he exists, Truman has no idea that there are cameras in every corner of his world. he has literally been ON television from the moment of his birth. With the honor of being the first child to be formally adopted by a corporation, Truman has had every moment of his existence captured by television cameras. The Truman Show, a worldwide reality series that runs twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and every day of the year, has been witness to his first words, his first steps, his first day at school-- nothing has escaped the attention of his audience. However, Truman has no inkling of this-- to him, the world around him is real, despite the fact that he lives on the world's largest studio, a domed construct that contains an entire town within and is able to create its own weather.

Ever feel like your life's been building up to something?

As Truman goes about his daily business, kissing his wife Meryl (Laura Linney) in the morning, exchanging pleasantries with the neighbors, driving in his car, and kissing up to the boss at work, every step is captured from different points of views by the five thousand cameras that dot the artificial town of Seahaven. In an effort to generate revenues (because of the nature of the show, there are no commercial breaks), the producers of The Truman Show insert numerous blatant attempts at product placement. And despite the show's promise of showing a real, genuine life on the screen, everything that happens to Truman has been scripted beforehand, just like the dialogue and emotions of his fellow Seahaven residents.]

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... infancy, creating a somewhat fatherly attachment. Noah Emmerich, who plays Truman's best friend and confidante, also gives a memorable performance as a man whose motivations seem ambiguous-- in his conversations with Truman, it is debatable whether the emotion he displays is genuine (being cast as Truman's best buddy, he has spent over twenty years of his life growing up with Truman) or scripted. Finally, Natascha McElhone is captivating as a lively pillar of strength in the real world that battles for Truman's liberation.

It isn'tThe film is well-rounded by the wonderfully-cheesy art deco production design by Dennis Gassner and a moving orchestration by Philip Glass. "The Truman Show" has a surprising amount of heart and intelligence in it, and is bound to be the memorable feel-good movie of the summer. How's it going to end? Catch "The Truman Show" and find out!