The Majestic Review
by Rose 'Bams' Cooper (bams AT 3blackchicks DOT com)December 25th, 2001
'3BlackChicks Review...'
THE MAJESTIC (2001)
Rated PG; running time 150 minutes
Genre: Romantic Drama
Seen at: Celebration Cinema (Lansing, Michigan)
Official site: http://movies.warnerbros.com/themajestic/
IMDB site: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0268995
Written by: Michael Sloane
Directed by: Frank Darabont
Cast: Jim Carrey, Martin Landau, Laurie Holden, Bob Balaban, Jeffrey DeMunn, Allen Garfield, Ron Rifkin, Gerry Black,
David Ogden Stiers, James Whitmore, Karl Bury, Hal Holbrook
Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2001
Review URL: http://www.3blackchicks.com/bamsthemajestic.html
In describing THE MAJESTIC to my husband, I had to tell him I thought it was a good movie. Not a great movie - certainly not along the caliber of THE GREEN MILE or THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION - but still, a good, watchable movie.
And I ain't a'feared to say that that's as much Jim Carrey's doing, as director Frank Darabont's.
THE STORY (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**)
Life is good for writer Peter Appleton (Jim Carrey): he's in love with a pretty girl, he's got a sweet convertible Benz, he's written a few B-movies, and he's on his way to writing an Important movie Real Soon Now. Yes, life is good...
..until Pete gets ensnared in the Communist Scare of 50's Hollywood: a time when all one had to do was be in the wrong place at the wrong time - however innocently - to be thought of as an enemy against Freedom [hmmm...sound familiar?] Distraught at being unfairly blacklisted and under-represented by studio reps Kevin Bannerman (Ron Rifkin) and Leo Kubelsky (Alan Garfield), Pete gets drunk and rides off in his sweet convertible Benz; he gets into an accident and suffers from amnesia, waking up with the help of Stan (James Whitmore) and his dog.
Stan takes Pete to Larson, a small town where everybody knows your name (well, everybody except for Pete). But the name these townsfolks know him by is "Luke": the missing war hero whose father Harry (Martin Landau) swears looks just like Pete. Not everyone is convinced, though; Luke's girlfriend Adele (Laurie Holden), her father Doc Ben (David Ogden Stiers), and Mayor Cole (Jeffrey DeMunn) may want to Believe, but injured war hero Bob Leffert (Karl Bury) remains unconvinced - and so does "Commie hunter" Elvin Clyde (Bob Balaban).
THE UPSHOT
Just take a look through some of his past movies listed in the 3BC Movie Reviews archives and you'll see that I have no love lost for Jim Carrey. I can easily say that he's one of the most overrated film comics of our time; completely overpaid, and not nearly as talented, comically, as his ridiculously high salary would bespeak. Hey, call me Racist if ya wanna, but if he hadn't been The White Guy on IN LIVING COLOR, I doubt he'd have gone nearly as far as he has today. I know of whence I speak: I remember him in PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED. Hell, I remember him in ONCE BITTEN. shudder.
But like Cuba Gooding Jr., Carrey's cohort in comedic crime, I loathe his Stupid comic schtick, but I love him in Dramatic mode. So it should be no surprise that the cache Carrey earned in THE TRUMAN SHOW, served him well here in THE MAJESTIC. Taking on a much quieter tone (the quietness as well as the richness of sound was something I noted a couple times), this Jim Carrey is a pill much easier to swallow than in his Dumb (and Dumber) comic roles. He rarely went that step too far, and kept me believing in his character(s). Would that he would revisit the serious side of himself more often.
The supporting cast gravitated around Carrey smoothly, never quite letting him run away with the show, and always keeping the audience in the moment (up until the rather unbelievably speechified court scene, that is. After two hours of a PLEASANTVILLE-like experience, I was ready to move on to the next movie...but not quite before this one's credits rolled). The entire cast was solid, but standouts include an excitable Martin Landau as Luke's father, Laurie Holden as his strong-willed Adele, and a Black Factor-worthy Gerry Black as the non-stereotypical Old Black Guy, Emmett Smith.
Frank Darabont, on the other hand, excelled stylistically but came up a bit short in substance. The movie certainly looked pretty enough, but often felt too derivative of other movies: especially his own. Far too often, characters and situations reminded me of other films, like "Shawshank" and "Mile", as well as PLEASANTVILLE and even a little bit of DOC HOLLYWOOD. Maybe he should hook up with King again; their collaboration seemed to work magic.
Though THE MAJESTIC won't make me forget THE GREEN MILE or THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION too soon, I can easily recommend this feel-good Carrey/Darabont flick for your holiday viewing now, or for future get-togethers when it comes out on video. Heck, you picked up THE GRINCH on video; might as well watch something good from Jim Carrey, eh?
BAMMER'S BOTTOM LINE:
Tired of waiting in line for LORD OF THE RINGS? Avoiding HOW HIGH like the plague? Bammer sez THE MAJESTIC makes for a good way to end the year on a high note.
THE MAJESTIC (rating: flashing yellowlight):
While not as majestic as his more grand collaborations with Stephen King, THE MAJESTIC still shines a bright spotlight on director Frank Darabont and a brighter one on star Jim Carrey.
Rose "Bams" Cooper
Webchick and Editor,
3BlackChicks Review
Entertainment Reviews With Flava!
Copyright Rose Cooper, 2001
EMAIL: [email protected]
http://www.3blackchicks.com/
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
