Rating: 
Summary: Any one can be a critic.
Review: Usually people that call themselves a critic are usually want-to-be actors. Need i say more about this.I'm not a big Jim Carrey fan, but it seems like an aging bottle of really fine, rare wine he continues to get better acting roles and in turn his acting continues to excell. I've read alot about the guy and have been extremely impressed with him as a person and actor.Yes, this movie might be a toss-back to the 50's but it's good, pure, clean fun. What is wrong with that. Has our acting ability being judged on sex or talent? In this film it's being judged on talent and Jim Carrey has it.This is a delightful movie you can take you mother to see. It's funny, witty, emotional and that adds up to "Entertainment."
Rating: 
Summary: A nice change of pace for Carrey
Review: I was as surprised as anyone to see Jim Carrey doing a serious part. What surprised me even more was that he was tolerably GOOD at it, and shows he really can act.
This is a story about a screenwriter who has everything going for him. He lives in Hollywood (he calls it "his town"), has an actress girlfriend, and has been successful in his craft. But when he is falsely "blacklisted" as a communist, his life changes.
In a drunken state of depression, he goes for a drive, and has an accident which takes his memory. He finds himself in a small town, unsure of who he is. He is mistaken for a young man who had been though killed in WWII, and assumes the young man's life.
This is a great movie, full of patriotism and down-to-earth, small-town values. Its story is both sad and triumphant. It would be truly great to see Carrey assuming more roles like these.
Rating: 
Summary: The movie that WOULD NOT END!!
Review: NOTE: are you the type that gets all bent out of shape when you read a review of a movie that you loved that completely slams it? I respectfully advise you to quit reading now.Straight up, I rented this movie to see Bruce Campbell. I was hoping this would be an interesting Frank Darabont movie to see in the theater. Then I was warned away from it by TONS of reviewers and friends I trust. I have a friend who idolizes Campbell and will see any movie he's even rumored to have a cameo in in the theater. My friend REFUSED to see this movie (again, bad word-of-mouth, he had a friend that wouldn't touch it with a thousand foot pole). That's how bad it is. So anyway, I read that the DVD special features had footage of Bruce Campbell left on the cutting room floor, so.... I could have just watched the extra footage, but I figured hey, I don't have much planned till tonight, why not watch the whole movie, even though it's 2 and a half hours long? It was directed by Darabont, wasn't it? It couldn't be that bad! Famous last words. The premise is that Jim Carrey (please, Academy, just mail him some sort of honorary Oscar so he goes back to making silly movies again) plays a screenwriter in the 50's during the time of the Hollywood blacklist. You'll never guess what happens next. He ends up on the blacklist! Couldn't see that coming, huh? All he did was go to a meeting to try to impress a girl in college, but too bad--all in the space of one day, he's not going to get his contract renewed at the studio, his girlfriend dumps him off screen, no-one wants to associate with him, etc. He gets hammered at a bar with a cool name like 'The Congo Bonga Room', then drives off a bridge (accidentally), hits his head, and winds up with amnesia. Here's where they lost my suspension of disbelief. He's completely hammered, almost drowns, then is washed downstream where he hits his head very hard on a large rock. OK, so he somehow floated, unconscious, but with his head sticking out of the water for about a mile so he didn't drown? Anyway, he wakes up on Plot Device Beach on the coast, with no ID (it got washed away) and no memory of his former life, even his name. OK, now right there was when I got a bad feeling reading the plot description, but it gets worse. The townspeople think he's Luke someone-or-other, the son who went off to war and never came back, MIA. I'm not going to go into it more than that, because you've probably already fallen asleep simply from reading my plot description. I knew this movie was long, but I swear to God, I would be POSITIVE they were winding it up, and it was the last dramatic scene/event, then there'd be still more. This is how dumb I am: I kept watching in case BC showed up again, even though I KNEW his part was through. That's like deliberately putting your hand back in hot water after you've just burned it, or something. To give you an idea of my high sappiness tolerance, I cried my eyes off during most of the Green Mile (which many of my friends thought was to sappy, but I went through about 19 kleenex) and in Shawshank--I still get teary when I watch them. .But this movie got so sugary and cliched and warm and fuzzy that I talked back to the screen. This is an interesting testament to how badly this movie failed: a couple months ago I went to a seminar given by a successful writer who said, quite correctly, that the two easiest ways to make a reader/audience cry are goodbye scenes and reunion scenes. The Majestic was overflowing with goodbye/welcome back scenes, but all they made me do was wince and wonder if there was any way this movie could have worked and been entertaining. Jim Carrey has now proved he's a fine dramatic actor, so ENOUGH. We get the picture, Jim. He's miscast (though Carrey doesn't think so, you can tell by watching him) but his performance just seems like he's trying too hard as a result. It's clear that the moviemakers planned (but failed, thank God) to completely sweep the Academy Awards with this one; a ton of scenes might have well as "For Your Oscar (TM) Consideration" teletyped along the bottom... but it just didn't work. The plot line is just something that never should have been greenlighted; it almost seems like a vanity production. Martin Landau, looking worse than he did in Ed Wood as Lugosi (I hope this was intentional) is great , as always; the lead actress was acceptable but forgettable, but it was instead one of the dullest and hardest movies to sit through since...uh....help me out, here.... Campbell fans, if you must rent this, rent the DVD. The special features include the entire 5 minute finale of "Sand Pirates of the Sahara"--which, now that I think of it, seems very out-of-date for the mid fifties, it looks more like a swashbuckling black and white flick of the 40's--a movie that Carrey's character has his first writing credit on. Do NOT sit through the whole movie like dumb me (unless it's just for a moment to see the hilarious poster with him on it). His backstory, which they should have included, was that he plays a over-the-hill matinee idol and corny actor with a serious drinking problem who is hanging onto his career by his fingernails (cough*Errol Flynn*cough) He's looked better, but is hilarious deadpanning lines like "You thought wrong!" Diehard Bruce Campbell fans only- rent the movie, watch his part on the special features,saving you the pain I endured of having to sit through the actual movie. Recommended only for hardcore BC fans or people with insomnia or maybe for screenwriters who want to see examples of how NOT to surprise or entertain the audience. Others, RUN! The only positive things I can say about the DVD are that it includes the aforementioned film and also a feature where you can read the history of the Hollywood blacklist, which more people, IMHO, should be educated about. Sorry, Mr. Darabont...there's gotta be another Stephen King-depression era-prison flick you can work on next.
Rating:
Summary: A good direction for Jim Carrey
Review: This is a pleasant film that is more important for what it isn't than what it is. There have been many comparisons between this film and the work of legendary director Frank Capra. That is easy to do because it is a very human story set in the 1940's and it ends with a congressional hearing that is reminiscent of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington". However, Capra was always very black and white when it came to good and evil, with his heroes almost saintly and his villains dastardly and despicable. This film has more gray overtones and flawed characters. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does take it out of the realm of being truly Capraesque. Even more importantly, this film isn't another lowbrow gross out flick by Jim Carrey. Carrey gives a likeable performance reminiscent of "The Truman Show", with not a hint of the repugnant and boorish behavior that made him famous. I can only pray that despite the poor box office of this film, Carrey will attempt to build on this and move in the direction that Robin Williams went, toward more substantial screenplays and real acting. His next project, "The Children of the Dust Bowl" is a true story of a professor who set up a school for kids in the Oklahoma dust bowl in the 1930's, so he seems to have changed his script selection criteria. That would be a blessing as he is far too talented to be wasting his life on body fluid humor. The film itself is schmaltzy and nostalgic, but it gets a little strident at the end as it tries too hard to repudiate the blacklisting and red paranoia of the 1940's and 1950's. The blacklist storyline is discordant with the rest of the film and really adds nothing to the story. Otherwise, it is an easy story to enjoy, although it is hard for the viewer to believe that anyone in this town could possibly have thought Peter Appleton (Carrey) was really Luke Trimble. It is as if everyone really knew the truth, but they wanted to deceive themselves. Director Frank Darabont ("The Green Mile", "The Shawshank Redemption") does a nice job on the period renderings (except not enough men in hats; hats were the rule for men during that period) with costumes and props that bring the times to life. The acting is very good. I like Jim Carrey much better as a dramatic actor or a bittersweet comic than as a fatuous chuff. Carrey is extremely affable as Peter, and plays the romantic parts with Laurie Holden well. However, he is tentative in the Washington scenes, unable to summon up the resolute defiance necessary for the situation. Martin Landau is terrific as Luke's father, bringing the character an almost delusional enthusiasm that is simultaneously charming and pathetic. Laurie Holden also does a nice job of portraying Adele, taking a grounded character and slowly melting her emotionally as she falls in love with Luke/Peter. This is not a great film, but other than the political drum beating it is an agreeable (though improbable) feel good flick. I rated it a 7/10. Let's hope this portends a trend in Jim Carrey's career away from the disgusting schlock for which he has made millions.
Rating:
Summary: I wish I'd seen this one in the theater
Review: I gave this one a pass when it was in the theater, and now I'm regretting it. Not because it is so visually stunning that it has to be seen on the big screen, but because it deserved my attention (and the attention of others). This is a very powerful and entertaining story in an unassuming wrapper. But, the lack of Hollywood explosions and gratuitous sex have apparently made it virtually invisible to the movie-going public (myself included, I'm sorry to say). This movie is about love, friendship, community, and personal integrity. It's about doing the right thing, even when the potential consequences do not bear thinking about, and the potential rewards seem non-existent. It's about quiet little heroes who do not win wars or pull children out of burning buildings. It's about the kind of people that we like to pretend we are. It forced me to take a good look at the man I see in the mirror every day. And, for that alone, it would be worth the price of admission.
Rating:
Summary: CARREY's WORST
Review: Jim Carrey's worst movie. a waste of time. he is not funny at all in this movie. it is a serious carrey.
Rating: 
Summary: Could've been a contender
Review: In recent years, it would appear that director Darabont has never met a script he was willing to cut. The Green Mile, while entertaining, would've been much better had it been shorter. The same is true of The Majestic. It just goes on and on and on, an Energizer Bunny of a movie that finally feels as if it's never going to end. Jim Carrey gives one of his solid, non-mugging engaging performances when the audience can actually care about his character, rather than marveling over the remarkable fashion in which he can contort his features. The stand-out performance is given by Martin Landau as the father who believes his war-hero son has returned in the form of amnesiac Carrey. The movie is a paean to good old-fashioned American virtues, complete with a climactic scene where Carrey gets to give a rah-rah speech before the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities about true values--as close to mom's apple pie as you can get. While it's intended to be a reminder of a time (the 50s) that was supposedly kinder and gentler, the net effect is to make the viewer grateful for the present. As well, there is an extended scene when the town of Lawson celebrates Carrey's return with a great big outdoor party. Carrey and his former fiancee are invited to lead off the dancing to Acker Bilk's "Stranger on the Shore" -- a song that wasn't written until 1962. It's a little amazing that no one on the production caught this anachronistic goof. This is a movie worth renting; it's definitely not an item to buy.
Rating:
Summary: Overlooked Treat
Review: This movie is clean, interesting and worth watching! What I like about it is my 5 year old daughter can watch the entire thing, without having to worry about questionable scenes. Check it out.
Rating: 
Summary: Below Par for Darabont
Review: Frank Darabont is the man behind the most under-rated film in Hollywood history. This, of course, is the best movie nobody has ever heard of: 'The Shawshank Redemption'. It is, by far, better than 'The Green Mile', an equally compelling film, and when I heard that his new film, 'The Majestic', was on its way, I was, needless to say, excited. Unfortunately I got myself all worked up over nothing. 'The Majestic' was full of so many plot holes that I was surprised Darabont wanted anything to do with this picture. For instance, the town is such a tight-knit community that "Luke" would have been easily recognized. And if not immediately, the doctor would have caught on at first glance. He was, of course, engaged to the man's daughter. But overlooking the major lapses in this film--most people won't catch on, except for us bona-fide movie fanatics--I couldn't attach myself to any of these characters. Jim Carrey, in my opinion, should stick to comedy. I almost felt bad for the man, because he seemed to want to burst out of that shell he was forced to live in and begin insulting everyone around him...in a comedic sort of way, that is. All in all, 'The Majestic' is more sugar coated than a sugar cookie. And at its two and a half running time--that's right, and this is a PG movie--it takes literally eighty minutes before I grew interest. That, however, tapered off after the re-opening of the theatre. There were no real likeable characters, and the acting seemed overdone and too soap-operaish for me. Even the climatic ending was annoying, because Carrey was continualy interupted, and with all the commotion around him, you could barely discern his words from anyone else's. Do me a favor: if you want to check something out by Darabont, go BUY 'The Shawshank Redemption'. Chances are you've already seen or read 'The Green Mile', but the previous of the two is his real masterpiece, and nowadays, it's almost the same price to rent the film than it is to buy it...and you will be buying it. Sadly, I was disappointed with 'The Majestic'...it just lacked the magic I expected.
Rating:
Summary: A Magical Moment in the Movies
Review: After seeing this film on DVD I am sorry I did not make the time to see it in the theatre. Frank Darabont has created a wonderful and nostalgic film with echos of Frank Capra everywhere. The lush cinematography with it's colorful hues help create and enhance a very special movie that will leave you wodering why films like this don't get made anymore. Jim Carrey completely loses himself in a quiet and underplayed role which could easily have garnered him an Oscar if anyone had been watching. This is an old style film and Carrey gives an old style performance as Peter Appleton. After an horrific car accident, he loses his memory and is mistaken, and embraced, by an entire town as Luke. Luke is a long missing and beloved son of both the town and Martin Landau, who gives a wonderful performance as always. Adele Stanton is amazing as Laurie Holden, Luke's girlfriend and touchstone for all that is good about smalltown America in the 50's. James Whitmore and David Ogden Stiers are just two of the many faces you will recognize in this magnificent film. The entire town comes together to help restore it's once great movie theatre, "The Majestic", where magic use to be seen. Like any Capra film, Darabont's movie takes it's time to unfold. The basic story is surrounded by small insights into ourselves and how we live. Does what people expect of us make us better? If we become better than who we were, where do we belong then? Peter will have to answer these questions when he remembers who he is. He has come to love Laurie and his 'father' Landau, and may no longer be Peter, at least not the old Peter. The town who feels betrayed by their favorite son is not the only problem Peter/Luke must deal with. The communist witch hunts of the fifties are in full force and he must go back and face the committee. But who he is now may change how he answers the questions. Once he figures out where he belongs, he must find out if he can live the life he chooses. This long and beautiful film is truly special. The last ten minutes of this old style masterpiece reminds us of all that is good about the movies. If you are lucky enough to be seeing this for the first time, I envy you. If you didn't give this film a chance the first time around, give it another try. "There Magic is Right Here, The Trick is to See It"--Martin Landau
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