Just a few hours till THE TRUMAN SHOW is released upon the world. I'm dying to see what mass culture thinks of this film. I saw it almost 2 months ago at a test screening here in Austin. They have since screened it here an additional 5 times. They never stop. I guess the plan is to start an amazing word of mouth campaign. It's working. Currently I'm getting 5-10 emails an hour about THE TRUMAN SHOW. "Should I go see it?" "Can Jim Carrey not suck?" "Is it as great as Forrest Gump?" "I hope it doesn't suck as much as Forrest Gump!!!"
Well, I decided to answer these questions.
#1 "Should I go see it?"
Yes. But be forewarned, I did not get that warm glowy feeling in my chest when I left the theater. This film is an excellently crafted, wonderfully acted BLACK SOCIAL SATIRE COMEDY. That's a genre that is usually not mainstream America. The film is non-conventional (good thing). It challenges perceptions of reality. (another good thing) It make you think. (Always a good thing)
#2 "Can Jim Carrey Not Suck?"
Not only can he not suck, but he can be great. So, after seeing this film you must face the reality that with a great director, Jim Carrey can do great work. The film is not carried on Carrey's shoulders alone. In fact it is the direction and manipulation that the creators of this film use that makes you care so much. The whole film is about manipulation. How people can make you think and do things against your will without your knowledge. It's about that scene in Seinfeld about punishing those that stand idly by watching a crime. Everyone in the world is watching a perverse crime. Everybit as cruel as kidnapping a young girl and via mind control and drugs, you manipulate that being into your slave. Truman is a slave to his audience. Their whims, their hopes, his life.
#3 "Is It As Great As FORREST GUMP?"
Yes, but in a different way. Forrest Gump was a story of innocence and simplicity. About a man in a world that sees what he wants. A man that problems wash over. Truman is not a moron. Truman is a man like you or me. He's real. And the things he has had to endure in his life are so cruel, so mean that for me it was hard to watch at times. Some people may perceive this film as a comedy. I saw it as dark satire of the world we live in. So in those terms it is as great as Forrest Gump. But will it make as much money. I don't know. I do not think so. This film can be seen as 'man against society' or it can be seen as just plain mean. With most of the country sick of the media magnification of President Clinton's personal issues... well it is possible that the country will latch on to this likable character that fights his way out from under the thumb of a voyeuristic society.
#4 "I Hope It Doesn't Suck As Much As FORREST GUMP!"
It doesn't. For all of those that love the sick twists in Pulp Fiction, well there are sick twists in The Truman Show. For those that hated the idolizing of a dumb man, well Truman isn't stupid and he knows what love is.
I love this film, I hope for the best for it. But I have to admit I'm completely in the dark as to what this film will do. Hopefully all of you will go out and support it this Friday, hopefully it'll hit that mark in you that it hit in me. Maybe it will be as big as Gump, and maybe we'll question the ever present eye of the media, this voyeuristic joy we all have watching the lives of others, because our own lives are no longer enough. Maybe... just maybe this film will kick all the big budget 'summer' films around. Or maybe it's just the second great film of the summer (first being Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas) and the first successful great film of the summer. Then we can pray that Saving Private Ryan, X-Files, Armageddon and the others all are equally great in their own specified genres. Maybe this summer will rise above Godzilla and Deep Impact. Well this film is definately a curve in the right direction. I hope the film 'gets' to you. It did me.
