Susan Granger’s review of ‘THE MAJESTIC” (Warner Bros.)
Back in the ’30s and ’40s, director Frank Capra made a series of sentimental movies with a message: “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town,” “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The recurrent theme was an idealistic individual, an improbable, often reluctant hero, who bucks all odds and thwarts materialistic, anti-social schemes. In this story, written by Michael Sloane and set in 1951, a B-movie screenwriter Peter Appleton (Jim Carrey) is suspected of being a Communist by the fascistic House Un-American Activities Commission. Frantic about being blacklisted, he gets drunk, accidentally drives off a bridge, loses his memory and winds up in the small Northern California town of Lawson, where he’s mistaken for Luke Trimble, a local W.W.II hero. Luke’s father (Martin Landau), owner of the dilapidated Majestic movie theater, truly believes that his long-lost son has returned and Luke’s fiancee (Laurie Holden), who has just passed her law bar exam, is entranced. In fact, the whole town embraces him – until his amnesia vanishes and his true identity is revealed. That’s where director Frank Darabont (“The Green Mile,” “The Shawshank Redemption”) clumsily veers uncontrollably into clichŽ Capra-land. When Peter Appleton testifies before HUAC, he champions the First Amendment while attacking the cynicism of McCarthyism. The film suffers from shallow, anachronistic dialogue, slow pacing and historical inconsistencies – not to mention the fact that most audiences have no recollection of the Hollywood blacklist which is not fully explained. On the other hand, Jim Carrey scores, evoking a young, vulnerable Jimmy Stewart/Gary Cooper. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Majestic” is a poignant, simplistic 7. It’s a flag-waving fantasy that never quite makes it as a fable.
