The MajesticA man with amnesia is mistaken for a long lost son.The Majestic is an old-fashioned throwback replete with a 1950s B-script and halcyon values like patriotism, true love, and clean fun. Peter Appleton (Jim Carrey) is a Hollywood scriptwriter with a sexy gal, a screenplay under his belt, and his big break on the horizon. But when his name is mistakenly given to the House Un-American Activities Committee, Appleton’s dreams of success in the biz quickly unravel. An ensuing car accident leaves him without a memory but a great opportunity–as a small town’s Luke Trimble, war hero and all-around swell guy, with whom he happens to bear an uncanny physical resemblance. Of course, there’s a beautiful woman (Sandra Sinclair) who waited for his return from the war, an endearing old dad (Martin Landau), and the magical Majestic movie house to renovate and reopen. As Appleton’s memory eventually catches up to him, however, The Majestic veers off toward Mr. Smith Goes to Washington territory, complete with a monologue on the First Amendment. Unfortunately, despite the film’s earnest striving to be Capra-esque and Carrey’s undeniable star quality, the charm is more reminiscent of Ronald Reagan than Jimmy Stewart. –Fionn Meade
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(out of 191 reviews)
Review by BeachReader for The Majestic
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Jim Carrey did a wonderful job in this movie, playing Luke, an amnesiac who is not really who people think he is. Like his character in “The Truman Show”, this was not a comedic role and shows his versatility as an actor. In the beginning of the movie, he is Peter, a rather sketchy Hollywood screenwriter. As Luke, he assumes an very different persona.The slow pace and the length of this film permit full character development. Viewers really get to know the characters and to care about them and their lives. Especially wonderful in her role was Laurie Holden, an actress who was new to me but who did a magnificent job in the role of Carrey’s girlfriend. Her down-to-earth performance was right on target.The Majestic, a run-down movie theater, becomes the rallying point for the townspeople – a symbol of the re-birth of a young man who has returned from the dead and the regeneration of a town which lost over 60 young men in the war. The entire town embraces Luke and rallies behind he and his father as they attempt to resuscitate the defunct theater.This ode to America and its freedoms came as a welcome change. It was a delightful, easy-to-watch, nostalgic movie with a feel-good message, showing patriotic, small-town values. What could be wrong with that?
Review by classicflicks for The Majestic
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We’ve always loved the Majestic, but it’s especially poignant watching it now, as America is at war. The small town that rescues Jim Carey’s character is what we all want; the sincere sharing of joys and sorrows with others that have been where we’ve been.
I don’t know why The Majestic ended up being a relative sleeper. (For that matter, I don’t know why Saving Grace, Pure Luck, and other brilliant movies with brilliant acting ended up that way, either.) Except for in the Majestic, the lead was played by a man who everyone expects to see playing someone wacky or stupid, no exceptions. It’s a shame. Carey was brilliant in this thought-provoking, heart-warming film.
Review by Kathy W for The Majestic
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I LOVE this movie. Some of my friends don’t and I don’t have a clue why. It’s a serious role for Jim Carey, something you don’t often see. There are also some other faces you will recognize, like Martin Landau (Space 1999) and the town doctor (one of the Major Franks from Mash).
Jim Carey is a Hollywood Writer who is named as having possible Communist ties in the McCarthy witchhunt for communists period in our history. (If you were named as a possible Communist, you were blackballed until your name was cleared–guilty before proven innocent. By the way, you cleared yourself by being investigated and naming someone else.)
Jim gets disgusted when, after being accused, the plug on his film project is pulled and he takes off for a drive. He has an accident, loses his memory, and wakes up on the beach in a small town where he is recognized as Martin Landau’s son Luke, who went off to war and has been gone for many years.
It’s a great flick about a town who gave up more than it’s share of young men to fight in the war and many never returned. The whole town celebrates Luke’s return as he rekindles his former love relationship with his girl and fond remeberances with the town’s people, in the backlight are the McCarthy trials and how they infringe on the rights of the people.
Like I said, great story line. You fall in love with the whole town as it enfolds.
Review by Aaron D. McCaleb for The Majestic
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The fantastic thing about this movie is that you take Jim Carrey and once he stops trying to be just funny and starts trying to act you find out that he’s amazing at it. No one can deny that Jim Carrey has everything it takes to be a fantastic actor. This movie is classic, it takes place in the era of the Red Scare. Jim Carrey is a screenwriter by the name of Peter Appleton who gets blacklisted for some communist group that he attended in college to impress a girl. He goes out that evening and gets drunk and takes a drive. His car goes off a bridge and he hits his head. He wakes up on a beach the next day not remembering a thing. He is taken in to a small town and is mistaken for a WWII hero who was thought to be dead. With the FBI looking for him and the town welcoming their hero home this movie deals with a small town’s healing from WWII and the many sons that they lost. It’s a fantastic movie recommended for anyone, especially those that consider themselves movie buffs. This is the unknown masterpiece of Jim Carrey’s collection.
Review by Amy Billinger for The Majestic
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I love this movie! Great watch! Jim Carrey does an amazing job as well as the other actors! This is a classic~!