The Majestic
by Frank Darabont
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DVD details
Actor: Bob Balaban, Hal Holbrook, Jeffrey DeMunn, Jim Carrey, Martin LandauDirector: Frank Darabont
Brand: Warner Brothers
Producer: Frank Darabont
Producer: Anna Garduno
Producer: Claudia Cummings
Producer: Jim Behnke
Producer: Linda Fields
Producer: Michael Sloane
Writer: Michael Sloane
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 152 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-06-18
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Reviews of The Majestic
DVD Review: I thought this was a democracy.
Summary: 2 Stars
While most will argue that The Majestic was an opportunity for famed director Frank Darabont to pay homage to the infamous films of Frank Capra, this critic felt it was more an opportunity for Darabont to successfully cliché every recycled element in Hollywood cinema with the sole purpose of making us feel sympathetic to an unimaginative character. The Majestic tried too hard to keep the audience's attention. The Majestic tried to hard to give us a fictional town where realism was taken from the same page as Pleasantville. The Majestic attempted to give Jim Carrey the opportunity to win an Oscar, but as we learn from Jack Nicholson, one sometimes cannot just calm the face to fully embrace a dramatic role. My point is that The Majestic tried too hard, thus forcing the film to transform from a sentimental piece of nostalgia, to just sheer rubbish. While Darabont tried to capture the spirit of 1950s Hollywood in this film, what in fact occurred was simple one dimensional characters that we cared nothing for, events that took place that seemed misplaced from reality, and emotions that escaped honesty forcing us to sit through two plus hours of pure, 100% uncut, Darabont drivel.
Take a brief moment and go through the internet to watch the trailer to this film. Just as I write this review, I find myself looking at what I thought this film was going to center around to suddenly realizing what Darabont actually gave me. To be utterly frank, this is not a film about a theater. Sure, one would assume from both the poster as well as the trailer that it may be about a man suffering from amnesia goes to a small town to rejuvenate an independent theater. As a man who dreams of similar ideas (sans the amnesia), I was ready to enjoy this feature. I was even willing to give Carrey a chance because he had proven to me over time that he could handle a meatier roll. Alas, when the final credits finally did run for this film, I did not see The Majestic as the film that was promised to me. I was expecting an American version of Cinema Paradiso, but instead found myself with more recycled Hollywood mumbo-jumbo that I could wave a stick at. The story was profoundly old, with Carrey doing nothing to re-establish his character. As I look back at his performance, he didn't grab anything by the horns, he didn't push his character to the limit, what he attempted to do was gain audience support by being less comic/zany and more "human", but for me you could see right though his performance. In a year worth of decent performers making their mark in Hollywood, Carrey's performance of Peter Appleton was about as transparent as a ghost and will not remain relevant through the test of time.
As I sit here and nitpick this film, I begin to realize that The Majestic was not the best that Darabont has to offer. I would argue that The Shawshank Redemption was a pure moment of cinematic intelligence, and that perhaps when Darabont joins forces with Stephen King, the work is pure film magic, but when it comes to creating other work, it just seems to fall into the pan of lest resistance. My major issue with this film was the surfacing of smaller issues like Carrey's nonchalant performance, the ridiculous nature of the town of Lawson (and the cliché characters that seemed to inhabit the streets), and the over-played ending speech which seemed like a cut-and-paste of nearly ever other "courtroom" drama ever produced. It just felt uncreative from beginning to end. There were hardly any surprises or moments that had you gripping your seat with anticipation. Darabont played it safe, but the final result ended up being a jumbled mess of already used clichés. I wish I could list them all for you, but as a man who has seen his fair share of movies, I could count the beats with my eyes closed in this film. I knew when he was going to crash, I knew there was going to be a love interest, I knew Carrey would be faced with emotion, and I knew that eventually he would have to defend himself to everyone that we found our eyes surrounding. I knew these events were going to happen, and I am sure that anyone that has seen more than two films in their lifetime would see the same. Creativity, imagination, and energy are three core elements needed to make a film go from average to cult-remembering ... but The Majestic had none of these traits, so it falls into the wayside of being found in a dollar bin within the year.
As I read my lines for this review, a name seems to resonate deeply within these words that utterly describe why this feature failed. I use the word "fail", because it was not a memorable to any extent. The acting was laughable and the story was as generic as Grade-A cheese, and while others may blame Carrey or the writer for such errors, this critic blames Frank Darabont. I see that he was trying to redefine an era of cinema, but why, as a man who loves movies from the 1940s, is this film so terrible to view? I do not believe that Darabont was able to capture the raw nature of the period. I don't believe that Mayberry is on every corner and that every film made in the 50s represented this fake life. He over dramatized the smaller events while completely missing his mark on the bigger moments. This film could have benefited from a small war scene, or possibly from a visitation from Luke himself near the end. I just needed something to spark my interest more than what was presented here. I felt cheated from this film because it gave up midway through and did not push the limits of filmmaking. While I don't expect that with every movie Hollywood releases, there is a level of expectation with a Darabont film which wasn't included here. Mediocrity is what paid the Darabont bill in this feature.
Overall, I wasn't impressed with this film in any way. The cinematography wasn't even worth mentioning because it was so far below the level of mediocrity I found myself deeply sleeping instead of enjoying the cliché moments that Darabont had to offer. Again, I cannot state that if you have seen two films ever in your life, you have already seen at least 8/9ths of this film. That is about the level of creativity and excitement provided. If you are a die-hard Carrey fan, I still don't think that you will find any excitement or enjoyment from this feature. Carrey doesn't go crazy, but maybe he should have for the audience members that were nearly asleep. What a poor, sad excuse for a film!
Grade: ** out of *****
Description of The Majestic
JIM CARREY PLAYS AN AMNESIA VICTIM WHO, MISTAKEN AS A MISSING,FAVORITE-SON WAR HERO BY A TINY CALIFORNIA TOWN, RESTORES AND REOPENS THE LOCAL ABANDONED MOVIE PALACE, DISCOVERING LOVE ANDREBUILDING HIS OWN LIFE ALONG THE WAY.The Majestic is an old-fashioned throwback replete with a 1950s B-script and halcyon values like patriotism, true love, and clean fun. Peter Appleton (Jim Carrey) is a Hollywood scriptwriter with a sexy gal, a screenplay under his belt, and his big break on the horizon. But when his name is mistakenly given to the House Un-American Activities Committee, Appleton's dreams of success in the biz quickly unravel. An ensuing car accident leaves him without a memory but a great opportunity--as a small town's Luke Trimble, war hero and all-around swell guy, with whom he happens to bear an uncanny physical resemblance. Of course, there's a beautiful woman (Sandra Sinclair) who waited for his return from the war, an endearing old dad (Martin Landau), and the magical Majestic movie house to renovate and reopen. As Appleton's memory eventually catches up to him, however, The Majestic veers off toward Mr. Smith Goes to Washington territory, complete with a monologue on the First Amendment. Unfortunately, despite the film's earnest striving to be Capra-esque and Carrey's undeniable star quality, the charm is more reminiscent of Ronald Reagan than Jimmy Stewart. --Fionn Meade
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