Directed by:
Frank DarabontScreenplay:
Michael SloaneCinematography:
David TattersallComposer:
Mark IshamCast:
Jim Carrey, Martin Landau, Laurie Holden, David Ogden Stiers, James Whitmore, Jeffrey DeMunn, Ron Rifkin, Hal Holbrook, Bob Balaban, Brent Briscoe, Gerry Black (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
Hollywood screenwriter Peter Appleton, a staff writer at HHS Studios in 1951, is an ambitious up-and-comer. His first produced screenplay, a B-movie swashbuckler entitled "Sand Pirates of the Sahara," has just opened on a double bill with John Huston's adventure, "The African Queen," at Grauman's Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. Not only is Appleton enjoying professional success, he has a hot starlet girlfriend, Sandra Sinclair, the female lead in his big screen debut. However, life is full of 'what if's...' What if Appleton were suddenly targeted by the House Un-American Activities Committee for suspected Communist leanings uncovered during his college years? What if Appleton lost not only his job and his girl, but his identity as well in a serious car crash in which the young writer developed amnesia? What if Appleton, unsure as to who he really is, stumbles into a charming little town on Northern California's coast and is mistaken for one of the town's long lost World War II heroes? (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (4)
A reminiscence of American romantic classics from several decades ago, with all its starchiness and sentimentality, wrapped in a well-fitting restored package. The brilliant atmosphere and meticulously directed actors breathe their honesty onto you and give you a feeling that you are watching a timeless film with a capital "F." I had similar feelings, for example, with L.A. Confidential. But Frank Darabont's piece is, of course, much more thoughtful, playing more on classic emotions and pathos, which is his typical sure bet – and this is meant well. However, both pieces are very intoxicating, though for slightly different reasons. Jim Carrey and Laurie Holden are excellent. A film where everyone will find something and that won't discourage anyone outright.
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An old-fashioned touching film about good people and hard but right decisions. Jim Carrey is superb as both the brooding man with no memory and the timid screenwriter who must fight for his life. Despite the naive script, Frank Darabont convincingly builds a functional world and wrings emotion where it needs to be. A very fine film that is a joy to watch.
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The Majestic can be seen as a celebration of the golden era of American cinema and the studio system of the 1950s, as well as a time when the main attraction and cultural entertainment in American small towns was the movie theater, where first dates, meetings between friends, and community social life took place. The screenplay with its typical happy ending imitates classic dramas from the 1940s and 1950s, highlighting the characteristic musical accompaniment and casting. Jim Carrey is excellent and restrained compared to his wild antics in the films that made him famous. On another level, Darabont's film celebrates traditional family values and, above all, an idealized concept of community. While this corresponds to the Hollywood approach mentioned above, from today's perspective, the film becomes less believable. The story, where the whole town helps to restore the old, once luxurious theater building and spontaneously sides with the screenwriter accused of anti-American activities in the famous McCarthy's campaign against hidden communists, which cost thousands of people their positions and livelihood, is simply out of this world. Overall impression: 85%.
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There’s pathos and kitsch in a lot of the scenes. Still, I have to admit that The Majestic is at its core a very good film, which artfully balances between a love affair and a moral drama, with Jim Carrey in the title role being simply irresistible. The musical pieces are also appreciated, as they wonderfully underline the atmosphere of a bygone era. (70%)
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