The Majestic

[Bolch]

Don't fancy writing much at the moment, but will say went to see this tonight with the lass, both of us thourghly enjoyed it. Jim Carrey played the part really well.

Oh and Bruce Campbell cameos in it. :D

[dean_tipton]

I wanted to see this, but since it bombed in America, I don't think it's on many screens. It's not on my local Showcase or Cineworld. :(

[Yonathan Gal]

this isn't on at Bournemouth ABC or Odeon, whih I'm really disappointed about, I been looking forward to this for months!!

[Nicky Ray]

I was looking forward to this as well, but it's not on around here either :( But it is released in Region 1 land on June 18th, so it should be available soon from the usual suppliers.

[McD]

**

First off, I didn’t think much of The Green Mile, unlike most, so I had my expectations in check for this one. Just as well really, even if it’s no disaster.

Jim Carrey’s career now resembles that of the man he gazumped for the ‘Riddler’ role, Robin Williams. He could be box office gold, or people might be completely indifferent to him. It’s all down to the film – and I’m not even remotely surprised that The Majestic has been a critical and commercial disappointment.

The film isn’t exactly bad. It’s just hideously average. Much is expected of Darabont after such an incredibly well loved debut as The Shawshank Redemption. And the script he’s filmed here just isn’t special enough. I don’t know what attracted him to it. It’s fluffy, derivative and unexceptional in every way. Sort of like finding out that George Lucas was behind Battlestar Galactica.

Carrey, in his first real theatrical straight role (Truman Burbank was still quirky enough, Andy Kaufman was bonkers), is fine. But any star his age could have tackled the role adequately. Sadly, the list of supporting characters are all fairly wooden and forgettable. Even Martin Landau, and the return of James Whitmore (Brooks Hatlen from Shawshank).

Life also appears to have imitated art with the casting of the female lead. Just as Jim Carrey’s ‘Pete’ is mistaken in hope for the long lost ‘Luke’, check out Laurie Holden. Did she win the role after victory in a Lauren Holly lookalike contest or what? The Paltrow wig didn’t put me off the scent, hard given how similar her name is to Carrey’s ex wife. Is he secretly pining for her? I’ll bet the ranch that it was Carrey, not Darabont, who was behind her casting, consciously or otherwise. Sorry, did I say life imitates art? Only pulling your leg.

The Majestic threatens to turn into a number of other movies at any given moment. The Capra comparisons have been made already but there are quite a few more recent flicks too. A man in the American 50’s dropped into a new environment, where he sort of knows everyone but doesn’t? Back To The Future. And for a moment I thought all we were going to get was a repeat of Cinema Paradiso. Not to mention that the story, set in a cut off little town, is based on that old conceit of ‘amnesia’. Man, it’s just like a bad episode of The Truman Show!

Was there any real point in the end to the McCarthyism subplot? Only to give the film an alleged moral centre (which stinks of the old Scent of a Woman, Finding Forrester clichés anyway). It’s obvious, wasted, you’ve seen it all before, etc. And even worse, the message appears to be ‘When America goes to war in the name of Freedom, it doesn’t really mean it’! Oops. No wonder it bombed. I can’t believe they didn’t digitally change ‘Pete’s’ homecoming celebrations from the waving of white gloves and black caps to a thousand little American flags, just before release, as damage limitation. Maybe they knew this film was beyond commercial redemption by then. And I very much doubt the film will enjoy a better afterlife on video a la Shawshank.

Darabont also failed to address the possibility that Carrey is both ‘Pete’ and ‘Luke’. It certainly wasn’t a stretch too far in a soap opera like this, and I was sure that was the way the film was going. The Doctor even hints at the possibility early on. So Carrey might have had amnesia twice? Who cares in a film like this.

It’s time for Darabont to find a story worthy of his talents, if he wants to maintain his reputation. And to stop exploring the ugly side of America with a fantasy twist that is ultimately pointless. His condemnations of Death Row and McCarthyism were both childlike, and I’d personally argue that you could NOT explore either without coming down heavily against them. He’s going to need meatier material if American civil rights, or whatever, has become his calling. Does he know that the vacancy for director of a decent Mohammed Ali movie is still open?

[Ol' Blue Eyes]

It's a decent enough film and it passes 2 1/2 hours easily enough, which is no mean feat, but really it's too contrived by far. I don't think I've ever seen a film where so many coincidences need to be put in place for the story to work. Movies like this need a light touch and it doesn't help if you can see the mechanics of the plot quite so obviously. It gets particularly bad towards the end where the small and presumably conservative town takes a political viewpoint that would seem unlikely today, let alone in the 1950s. What makes it just about work in spite of everything are the excellent cast and Frank Darabont's direction.

[Richie]

It's on BBC2 tonight at 10pm for anyone (like me) who hasn't seen it and wants to check it out.

[anephric]

Be prepared for an overload of sentiment.

Martin Landau's always watchable, mind.

[Squirrel God]

Not a bad film, but a little bit confused in what it's trying to achieve IMO.

By all means watch this, but then go watch Cinema Paradiso :)

[jroadley]

I thoroughly enjoyed it, Jim Carrey was good, and as already stated never need a excuse to watch Martin Landau :thumbs:

[hannay]

I saw this on Sky Movies a week or two ago, and thought it was very good :thumbs:

[Richie]

WOW! That was one of the most nauseatingly inauthentic films I've ever seen!

[Listy]

Thought it was a decent watch myself. Not that I'd ever own it on DVD or anything but it wasn't half bad (though it was a quite a few steps down from Darabont's best works).

[tj_director]

WOW! That was one of the most nauseatingly inauthentic films I've ever seen!

couldn't have worded it any better. Remember watching it ages ago, thinking there was no way the film could fail, Darabont, Carrey and a storyline about a cinema.. but the bit in the cemetary just summed up my overall dissapointment with it.

[BiscLimpkit]

I thought this film was so boring. Really was dull.

[callmecheez]

I like it, but I like nearly anything with Carrey in. .

[Cockeye]

Where the hell did this come from? :suspect:

Great film though :thumbs:

[yaffle]

It's like someone remade Martin Guerre (or Sommersby), but removed all the decent plot elements, acting, and script, and just left the central conceit and crap filler.

[GProject]

Ah yes, the oft-forgotten completion of Frank Darabont's 'long film' trilogy - how restrained of him it was to bring in his latest film The Mist at just over two hours.

But on The Majestic: Well, between Shawshank, Green Mile and this, it is clearly the weakest of the three. However, that's not to say I didn't like it - I think I just felt the length slightly more than in the others. I enjoyed Carrey's performance too.

[soundtrackgeek]

It was really good. This was the first non-slapstick-type-comedy movie I saw with Jim Carrey so I was worried that I would just laugh when I saw him whatever he did. However he is actually not a bad actor and I'm glad he is doing more serious roles now.