The Majestic (2001)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Frank Darabont

Writer (WGA):

Michael Sloane (written by)

Release Date:

21 December 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Sometimes your life comes into focus one frame at a time.

Plot:

Set in 1951, a blacklisted Hollywood writer gets into a car accident, loses his memory and settles down in a small town where he is mistaken for a long-lost son.

Plot Keywords:

Small Town | Communist | Amnesia | Memory | Screenwriter

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Tue. July 21

2:00 PM

HBO

Cast

Jim Carrey	...	Peter Appleton
Bob Balaban	...	Elvin Clyde
Jeffrey DeMunn	...	Ernie Cole
Hal Holbrook	...	Congressman Doyle
Laurie Holden	...	Adele Stanton
Martin Landau	...	Harry Trimble
Brent Briscoe	...	Sheriff Cecil Coleman
Ron Rifkin	...	Kevin Bannerman
Gerry Black	...	Emmett Smith
David Ogden Stiers	...	Doc Stanton
James Whitmore	...	Stan Keller
Susan Willis	...	Irene Terwilliger
Catherine Dent	...	Mabel
Brian Howe	...	Carl Leffert / Head of the Studio
Karl Bury	...	Bob Leffert

Also Known As:

The Bijou (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for language and mild thematic elements.

Runtime:

152 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Sweden:7 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Brazil:Livre | Canada:PG | Finland:K-7 | France:U | Germany:6 | Hong Kong:I | Ireland:G | Netherlands:AL | Norway:7 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Ferndale, California, USA

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Trivia:

WILHELM SCREAM: When part of the theater's neon sign explodes.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Leo Kubelsky is talking with Peter Appleton as they walk through the studio Lot, as Leo Kulbesky announces that the "studio has suspended negotiations this morning," the shot shows Allen Garfield with a modern "in-ear" hearing aide. The rest of the time he is shown with out it.

Quotes:

Peter Appleton: I thought this was a democracy.
Leo Kubelsky: The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, they're all just pieces of paper with signatures on them. And you know what a piece of paper with a signature is, a contract. Something that can be renegotiated at any time. Just so happens that the House un-American activities committee is renegotiating the contract this time around. Next time it will be somebody else, but it will always be somebody.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 101 Biggest Celebrity Oops (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)

Best Carey movie ever

Like most people I know, I've seen Jim Carey preform in movies where the writers expected him to have a warped sense of humor or outlook on life, or a zany personality - or both. Sometimes I appreciated it, such as in Batman Forever or Bruce Almighty; other times I didn't, like when he preformed a butchered Grinch or when Ace Ventura made me sick with his humor. Still, whether I liked the movie's story, I admired the way his acting brought the crazies to life. The only exception I'd ever seen was him as the quiet, grown narrator in Simon Birch - until I found The Majestic. Here he doesn't have an outburst of anger, or a goofy-acting moment. He plays a Hollywood screenwriter, Peter - or Pete - Appleton, who thinks life is good and lives it normally. He's on the verge of making 1st-rate films, has an actress girlfriend, and is respected by all. But all that changes when he's blacklisted for attending a communist meeting, unawares, with his college girlfriend. He's now stripped of his girlfriend, who dumps him, and his career when his latest screenplay is examined by the FBI to see whether he is indeed a communist. Having too much to drink at the local bar, he makes the mistake of going out to drive afterward and crash-lands in a river, managing to escape the car but knocking his head so when discovered on the beach of Lawson the next morning by resident Stan Keller (James Whitmore, The Shawshank Redemption) he doesn't have a clue who he is or why he's there. The townspeople find him familiar, and shortly after he arrives former theater owner Harry Trimble (Martin Landau) is convinced that this is his son Luke, MIA almost a decade ago in WWII. The people, still grieving over the lost of 60 others, are delighted to welcome "Luke" home. He is content to live surrounded by people who admire him, Luke's girlfriend Adele, and work in the Majestic movie theater, unaware that he has both another life and a government agency waiting to catch up to him. This movie itself really is majestic. Someone I know who's always thought Carey overdid his roles saw this, and loved it and called him a good actor. I loved it myself. I thought it was odd how we barely met Pete's original girlfriend, who wasn't even shown breaking up with him, and the fact that the government suddenly had doubts that he was the communist spy they'd thought the day his trial was set, especially after they rejected his movie script as communist work and wrote his vehicle as belonging to a commie in the papers when it was found (and with the wallet picture found with it, why did nobody see its resemblance to "Luke"?). but I enjoyed everything about this anyway. This is by far the best Jim Carey movie I've seen.