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 As
the saying goes, "you can't re-heat a souffle."
Take The Beatles, for instance. Sure, they made some of the greatest
music of all time, but part of its appeal was the context in which
it was made. In short, it was very much of its time, but when today's
musicians try to emulate their sound, they end up sounding like
second-rate posers with somewhat enjoyable, but ultimately forgettable
music (at least, most of the time).
The same can be said about director Frank Darabont's The Majestic.
It's quite obvious that Darabont went out of his way to make the
film Capra-esque, but unfortunately, the results are merely (dare
I say it) Crapa-esque. Despite a solid—if periodically over
the top—performance from Oscar-wannabe Jim Carrey, The Majestic
is so deep in contrived sentimentality, you practically need a life
preserver to stay above it.
The time is 1951. When Peter Appleton (Jim Carrey) is targeted by
the House Un-American Activities Committee for suspected Communist
activities, he is blacklisted from his job as an up-and-coming Hollywood
screenwriter. Devastated by his change in fortune, Peter drives
up the coast and gets into a serious car accident following a drunken
binge. Suffering from amnesia, Peter wanders into the depressed
small town of Lawson, California, where he is mistaken for Luke
Trimble, a local war hero who was listed as missing in action during
World War II. Luke's alleged re-appearance gives hope to the people
of Lawson — especially Luke's father Harry (Martin Landau)
and his long lost love Adele (Laurie Holden). As they proceed to
re-introduce him to his life, through the refurbishment of the town's
run-down movie theater, the Majestic, Peter's memories come flooding
back to him. The question is, with two lives now up for grabs, which
one will he choose?
Frank Darabont is clearly a director with a sensitive side —
as evidenced by the deeply moving, enormously inspirational prison
drama The Shawshank Redemption (regarded by many as one of
the finest films of the 90's) — but he is also a filmmaker
who tends to be too self-indulgent for his own good. The same elements
that made Shawshank so endearing were also present in his
1999 follow-up The Green Mile (another prison drama), but
at more than 3 hours long, the film was watered down by its own
excess.
Now Darabont goes to a prison of a different kind — this one
resembling a quaint small town — with The Majestic.
This time around, he tries so hard to manipulate your emotions,
he practically hits you over the head with a six-pack of Kleenex.
The battle between good and evil that served as the backdrop for
his previous films is brought to the fore in The Majestic,
but by simplistically trivializing the Hollywood blacklist trials
of the 1950's, most of the characters end up acting like cartoonish
buffoons. Also, while Darabont's attention to lush period detail
and picturesque cinematography are top notch, the slow pace (and
long running time: over 2 1/2 hours) tends to outweigh some of the
more inspirational aspects of the movie.
Jim Carrey obviously wants an Oscar so bad that it hurts, but he
should stop drawing attention to himself every time he takes on
a "serious" role and just let his performance speak for itself.
Despite the hype surrounding 1998's The Truman Show, Carrey
was able to leave his comedic talents in the background in order
to prove that he can handle more dramatic fare. In the case of The
Majestic, while he is certainly convincing as the Jimmy Stewart-ish
American everyman who's suddenly forced to reconsider his own identity,
there are times when his melodramatic delivery just doesn't ring
true.
The supporting cast members are effective enough, even if they are
riddled with cliches and predictable intentions. The always reliable
Martin Landau puts in a decent (if somewhat sappy) performance as
the father who is desperate to have his son back. At the same time,
up-and-comer Laurie Holden (who bares a striking resemblance to
Carrey's real life ex-wife Lauren Holly) also puts in a believable,
if unspectacular, turn as the small town girl who's looking to re-connect
with her long lost love.
There's a scene in the middle of The Majestic where Martin
Landau points out the importance of restoring the run-down movie
theater, and it pretty much sums up why going to the movies was,
is, and will always will be such an enchanting experience. Once
you get into the theater, you know that for the next couple of hours,
you can forget about your problems and escape into another world
with the shared experience of other moviegoers. It's a magical,
uplifting speech, but unfortunately, that's about the only thing
that's magical about The Majestic. Otherwise, this balcony
is closed.
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