History Film / TheTrumanShow

*** Truman taking an inpromptu roadtrip with his wife, only for a bunch of cars to conveniently come out and clog the roadways to prevent him leaving town. When Truman pretends to start returning home, he randomly goes back on that same street for him to see that the traffic has mysteriously cleared up.
*** A random police officer [[INeverSaidItWasPoison calling Truman by name despite him having no way of knowing in-universe who he is]].

* PublicDomainSoundtrack: Truman's morning commutes are invariably accompanied by Mozart; either the concluding [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quxTnEEETbo Rondo alla Turca]] from Piano Sonata No. 11 or the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLxrPQI9gLU first movement]] of his Horn Concerto No. 1. His memories of his short-lived romance with Lauren/Sylvia, meanwhile, feature the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSSx9Z7-dJQ second movement]] from Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1.

* LastDayOfNormalcy: On day 10,909, both Truman, the show's cast and crew, and the (InUniverse) audience woke up to just a typical day, with the exception of the "plane" that lost a part. After that, [[SpottingTheThread Truman starts to notice strange things happening to him]], such as: him believing a homeless man was his thought to be deceased father; receiving radio signals that sound like instructions to follow him around; seeing a film crew quickly hidden away while he's escorted by security; [[RecurringExtra noticing a pattern of people who roam the neighborhood at certain intervals]]; finally, his father does in fact return, having had suffered from years of amnesia. This eventually leads to day 10,913 when [[spoiler: Hannah Gill, the actress playing Meryl, [[ProductPlacement launches into a commercial for hot cocoa]], [[SkewedPriorities instead of having a serious conversation with her husband while he was having a nervous break down]]). Truman enacts his escape plan, which causes Christof to cut the live transmission for the first time, creating a media frenzy and eventually leading to the show's cancellation when Truman manages to leave]].

* LastDayOfNormalcy: On day 10,909, both Truman, the show's cast and crew, and the (InUniverse) audience woke up to just a typical day, with the exception of the "plane" that lost a part. After that, [[SpottingTheThread Truman starts to notice strange things happening to him]], such as: him believing a homeless man was his thought to be deceased father; receiving radio signals that sound like instructions to follow him around; seeing a film crew quickly hidden away while he's escorted by security; [[RecurringExtra noticing a pattern of people who roam the neighborhood at certain intervals]]; finally, his father does in fact return, having had suffered from years of amnesia. This eventually leads to day 10,913 when [[spoiler:after his divorce from Meryl (which was the result of Truman attacking her, because the actress playing Meryl, [[ProductPlacement Hannah Gill, decided to act in a commercial for hot cocoa]], [[SkewedPriorities instead of having a serious conversation when he was having a mental break down]]), Truman enacts his escape plan, which also includes Christoff cutting of the live transmission for the first time, and creating a media frenzy, and eventually leads to the show's cancellation when Truman decides to leave]].

When he bumps into a mysterious hobo who looks almost identical to his dead father, Truman begins to suffer a paranoid breakdown and sets out to fully investigate his environment. However, everyone around him tries in desperation to stop him from discovering the truth: [[EnforcedMethodActing Truman himself lives an artificial life]].

* WeAreExperiencingTechnicalDifficulties: After Marlon discovers that Truman has escaped from his house, Christof orders the crew to cut the transmission for the first time ever. Audiences worldwide are left in shock watching a title board. When an executive complains to christof he wryly notes the graphic is drawing their highest-ever ratings as people wait to find out what's happened.

* ArtisticLicenseAutomobiles: Truman's Ford Taurus is a Frankenstein of option configurations you couldn't actually get in RealLife at the time of most of the filming. Truman's Taurus has the body, interior and trim of a 1997 Taurus GL, judging by the color, the exterior lights and the seat fabric, but it is badged as a higher-spec Taurus LX (as seen when he backs out of the driveway during his first escape attempt) and has a dual exhaust with circular tips pointing downwards, indicating that it has the 24 valve Duratec V6 engine, which was only available on the LX model. It also has the front fascia from the high performance SHO model, but painted in a color that was only available on the GL and LX trims. It suddenly has the chrome rims from a production 1997 LX model when Truman tries to cross the bridge and one quick shot of the car's stereo shows the upgraded stereo with automatic climate control that you would find on a production LX, while all other interior shots show the base stereo with manual, rotary HVAC controls you would find on a production GL.

* BilingualBonus: In the background of the scene where Truman's dad is being taken away, two arcs display the words "unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno", Latin for "One for All, All for One". Truman exists for the rest of the world's entertainment, and all of Seahaven exists for Truman. Perhaps better, Truman exists for the rest of the world's entertainment while that world cheers him on, resulting in some [[SurprisinglyGoodForeignLanguage surprisingly accurate]] [[GratuitousFrench French]] and [[GratuitousJapanese Japanese]] to represent the world at large.

* ArrangedMarriage: Truman's Marriage to Meryl is secretly this, as the people in charge of the show deliberately set up their first meeting, dating, etc. Truman only ''thinks'' he freely chose to marry her.

-> "What are you talking about? Who you talking to?.. [[LampshadeHanging What does this have to do with anything?]]

* FourthWallPsych: In an [[ShowWithinAShow in-universe]] example, Truman starts talking to himself through the bathroom mirror, and the production crew starts wondering if he's really aware of the camera that's hidden behind it. They're eventually reassured that he isn't when Truman starts drawing on the mirror with soap and goofing around. [[spoiler:but he actually ''is'' onto them]].

** During the "Nuclear Meltdown" encountered during his escape attempt, [[OhCrap his reaction]] to a '''complete stranger''' (a police officer) uttering "You're welcome, Truman."

* MoodWhiplash: PlayedForDrama. Following Truman's growing paranoia, Meryl tells him that he's "not well". Truman accuses her of hating him, and after she retorts with "that's not true", her next action is pulling off another ProductPlacement, complete with her ecstatic sales pitch voice. [[spoiler:This ends up being the last straw for Truman on his and Meryl's relationship.]]

* AudienceWhatAudience: An interesting case, given that it's PlayedForDrama -- [[spoiler:Meryl choosing to perform a ProductPlacement pitch as Truman is having an emotional breakdown completely shocks him, with him looking confused around and directly her asking "Who are you talking to?!" It's what proves to him that she's also in on it, and it's possibly the clue that gives him the nature of what the people around him are in on]].

* AudienceWhatAudience: An interesting case, given that it's PlayedForDrama -- [[spoiler:Meryl choosing to perform a ProductPlacement pitch at a tense moment completely shocks Truman, with him directly asking "Who are you talking to?". It's what proves to him that she's also in on it, and it's possibly the clue that gives him the nature of what people are in on]].

* OffModel: {{Invoked|Trope}} with the family photo of Mount Rushmore. ''Something'' about it is slightly off...

* EnforcedMethodActing: An extreme in-universe example as Truman's ''entire life'' was this. Everyone he knew (his parents, best friend, wife, boss, the townspeople, etc.) was a paid actor being fed lines, but Truman himself was the only one genuinely reacting to events in his life not knowing they were all fake and engineered to entertain the outside world.

* ActingForTwo: When the actor who originally played his father shows up on the set again as a homeless man.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Truman goes through so much for the sake of must-see TV.

** The principal characters also have names seemingly inspired by notable actors (Marlon, Meryl, etc.).