The Majestic | | Cast : | Jim Carrey, Martin Landau | | Director : | Frank Darabont | | Studio : | Warner Home Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | December 21, 2001 | | DVD Released Date : | February 03, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | June 26, 2005 | | Summary | Who Are We Really? | Content
 | Frank Darabont has created a wonderful and nostalgic film with echos of Frank Capra everywhere. The lush cinematography with its colorful hues help create and enhance a very special movie that will leave you wondering why films like this don't get made anymore.
Jim Carrey completely loses himself in a quiet and underplayed role which could easily have garnered him an Oscar if anyone had been watching. This is an old-style film and Carrey gives an old-style performance as Peter Appleton. After an horrific car accident, he loses his memory and is mistaken and embraced by an entire town as Luke. Luke is a long missing and beloved son of both his father and the town.
Martin Landau who gives a wonderful performance as always. The same can be said of Adele Stanton, as the pretty Laurie Holden, Luke's girlfriend and touchstone for all that really matters in life. James Whitmore and David Ogden Stiers are just two of the many faces you will recognize in this lovely portrait os a small town in 1950's America. An entire town comes together to help restore its once great movie theatre, "The Majestic," where magic filled the screens every weekend.
Like any Capra film, Darabont's movie takes its time to unfold. The basic story is surrounded by small insights into ourselves and how we live. Does what people expect of us make us better? If we become better than who we were, where do we belong then? Peter will have to answer these questions when he remembers who he is. He has come to love Laurie and his 'father' Landau, and may no longer be Peter; at least not the old Peter.
The town who feels betrayed by their favorite son is not the only problem Peter/Luke must deal with. The communist witch hunts of the fifties are in full force and he must go back and face the committee. But who he is now may change how he answers the questions. Once he figures out where he belongs, he must find out if he can live the life he chooses.
This long and beautiful film is truly special. The last ten minutes of this old-style masterpiece reminds us of all that is good about the movies. If you are lucky enough to be seeing this for the first time, I envy you. If you didn't give this film a chance the first time around, give it another try.
"The Magic is Right Here, The Trick is to See It"--Martin Landau |
| Rating | | | Date | May 30, 2005 | | Summary | A Nice Picture | Content
| I was afraid at times that "The Majectic" would get bogged down by it's good intentions. The film tackles alot of heavy themes(Post-war trauma, McCarthyism, etc.) that it seemed like it was straight-jacketed by it's lofty goals. It would also help if director Frank Darabont would learn how to tighten up his stories. This film and "The Green Mile" are good films but they're not "War and Peace". Just as I was about to write this film off as a noble failure it rebounds with a strong last third. The ending is Capra-esque but, hey, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. The film contains many nice moments but it's the little touches that resonated with me; the pictures of the town's young men lost in the great war, the unveiling of the statue commemorating the war casualties. Jim Carrey, in an understated performance, hit's all the right notes as Peter Appleton, disgraced screenwriter mistaken for someone else. Martin Landau was exceptional as Harry, the grieving father who want's to believe that Carrey is his son returning from war. I particularly liked Gerry Black as Emmit, a black man nursing wounds from his own experience in World War I. Lest I forget, Bruce Campbell,"King of the B's", has a bit in the film's "Sand Pirates of the Sahara" sequence. Not a great picture, but one well worth checking out. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 24, 2005 | | Summary | A Jim Carrey Movie for Non-Jim Carrey Fans | Content
| I don't know why there are so many negative or mixed reviews about this movie. I can only assume that fans of Jim Carrey expected him to be over the top (like he was in the Mask and Ace Venture), and those that didn't like those movies (this is the category that I fall into), assumed that he would be over the top so they dismissed this movie sight unseen. Jim Carrey fans STAY AWAY as you will probubly be disappointed in this movie. Non-Jim Carrey fans "Please, Please, Please" go see this movie, you will not be disappointed. Forget Jim Carrey, think of a young Tom Hanks, or dare I suggest a young Jimmy Stewart. If you do not know anything about this movie think "It's a Wonderful Life" or any other Frank Capra film. This is an excellent gem of a movie that was (and I fear will continue to be) missed by so many, simply because people hear the name "Jim Carrey" and make of their mind (good or bad) without even seeing the movie. This movie was great, by far the best picture I saw in 2001. Jim Carrey as a serious actor was excellent (who knew), Martin Landau..excellent...and the girl who played the love interest (sorry I forgot her name) was outstanding. This is a movie expierence that you can share with your wife, your girlfriend, your Mom and Dad, your favorite Aunt and Uncle, and never be embarrassed by anything of the screen (now how many Jim Carrey movies can you say that about). Go now, Buy, Rent, Borrow, set your DVR, but get a copy of this movie and set aside an evening for a movie pleasure that you have not had in an extremely long time. I cannot reccommend it enough (I would give it 10 stars if I could, and believe me I am very criticle of movies in general). |
| Rating | | | Date | April 26, 2005 | | Summary | Yet more whining about the McCarthy era | Content
| I'm so tired of Hollywood whining about the McCarthy era. Most recently it was "The Contender"; before that, "The Crucible," and before *that,* "Guilty By Suspicion." They're like a dog with an old slipper it can't stop chewing. As a somewhat mainstream sometimes-consumer of Hollywood's products, I have a message for Hollywood producers: No one cares about a bunch communists and their fellow travelers who lost their jobs in the 50s!
The thirst for victim status manifests itself in far, far too many areas of American society as it is. Hollywood producers, why don't you try to slake that thirst by telling each other at cocktail and coke parties that *you* would have stood in the breach and never given in to political pressure, if only you'd been lucky enough to have been accused. Don't take your desire for victim status out on the rest of us. To paraphrase a famous McCarthy era Hollywood luminary: "Have you no shame? The McCarthy era is dead!" |
| Rating | | | Date | March 21, 2005 | | Summary | A Return to Basics | Content
| I read the reviews of this film and I am amazed at how far down the road of cynicism we have gone in so many ways. And who gives a rapper's curse that "Stranger on the Shore" was written in 1962. I can always find faults in most films that makes this one less than trivial. This kind of reviewing is for petty people.
No - I will tell you, I am college educated, been around the world and had all my ideals shattered at one time or another. But this film had my wife and I in tears of joy and sorrow. This film takes us back to some very needed basics with a classic set up. It starts off almost as if it was another Carey comedy, but soon turns into something else. You are too hardened to care that a guy gets stuck on a bridge, in a rain storm? You don't care that he goes over? Have you ever met someone who can't recall their past? It's very sad. Hey, that black man alone in the film is representative of possibly scores of similar situations that existed back then. (A lot like the black woman my uncle took in and saved from a miserable slow death on the street as a destitute old woman. He founded a home for homeless recoverng alcholics in the early '60s based on that gesture. What a cornball he was!)
If this film cannot move you, you are likely hopelessly lost in a post modern anarchy of the heart, needing another cinematic action/shock fix to keep you interested in life. The scene of Carey's character facing up to the devils in the place of civil servants is supreme, even if it is merely an update. Only a great actor could play that as well as Carey did, right down to the shakey hand and fearfull eyes. And Jim Carey deserves some recognition as an actor.
We happen to know Ferndale, California, where this film was made and visited just as the set was closing. Mr. Carey left a swath of love and friendship in his wake. What a supreme guy. Someday, I hope he gets to shake off his stereotype and gets a part that will win him the recognition he deserves. This film is but one blow against his concrete prison. |
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