The Truman Show
Overview
 
The Truman Show is a 1998 American satirical comedy-drama film directed by Peter Weir
Peter Weir
Peter Lindsay Weir, AM is an Australian film director. After playing a leading role in the Australian New Wave cinema with his films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave and Gallipoli, Weir directed a diverse group of American and international films—many of them major box office...

 and written by Andrew Niccol
Andrew Niccol
Andrew M. Niccol is a New Zealand screenwriter, producer, and director. He wrote and directed Gattaca, S1m0ne, In Time, and Lord of War. He also wrote and co-produced The Truman Show, which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay in 1999 and won a BAFTA award for Best...

. The cast includes Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey
James Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...

 as Truman Burbank, as well as Laura Linney
Laura Linney
Laura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...

, Noah Emmerich
Noah Emmerich
Noah Nicholas Emmerich is an American film actor who first broke out in the film Beautiful Girls. He was later seen in movies like The Truman Show, Cop Land, Frequency, Love & Sex, Windtalkers, Miracle, Super 8 and Little Children.-Early life:Emmerich was born in New York City to a Jewish family,...

, Ed Harris
Ed Harris
Edward Allen "Ed" Harris is an American actor, writer, and director, known for his performances in Appaloosa, Radio, The Rock, The Abyss, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, A History of Violence, and The Truman Show. Harris has also narrated commercials for The Home Depot and other companies...

 and Natascha McElhone
Natascha McElhone
Natascha McElhone is an English actress of stage, screen and television, best known for her roles in Ronin, The Truman Show and Solaris. McElhone also plays a leading role in the Showtime series Californication....

. The film chronicles the life of a man who is initially unaware that he is living in a constructed reality
Simulated reality
Simulated reality is the proposition that reality could be simulated—perhaps by computer simulation—to a degree indistinguishable from "true" reality. It could contain conscious minds which may or may not be fully aware that they are living inside a simulation....

 television show, broadcast 24-hours-a-day to billions of people across the globe. Truman becomes suspicious of his perceived reality and embarks on a quest to discover the truth about his life.

The genesis of The Truman Show was a spec script
Spec script
A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or studio....

 by Niccol.
Quotations

In case I don't see ya: Good afternoon, good evening, and good night!

The early bird gathers no moss! The rolling stone catches the worm!

Somebody help me, I'm being spontaneous!

[Sailing away in the artificially roughened winds and seas] Is that the best you can do? You're gonna have to kill me! [sings] What do ya do with a drunken sailor? What do ya do with a drunken sailor? What do ya do with a drunken sailor ear-lye in the mor-nin'!

[to Meryl threatening him with a kitchen utensil] What are you gonna do? Grate me, slice me or dice me? There are sooo many choices.

[after startling two control room directors by seemingly talking to them, then easing their concerns by seeming to revert back to his eccentricity, whilst they look at their notes temporarily] That one's for free.

You never had a camera in my head!

[watching himself in the mirror in the bathroom] I here by proclaim this planet as Trumania of the Burbank Galaxy!

We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented, it's as simple as that.

If he [Truman] was more than just a vague ambition, if he was absolutely determined to discover the truth, there's no way we could prevent him.

 
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