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Majestic, The
Warner Bros. // PG // June 18, 2002
List Price: $26.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
"The Majestic" is a case of a well-made and old fashioned picture simply not finding its audience. Released during the Christmas rush, the studio likely thought that the film's warm-hearted nature and strong list of performers would bring in an audience - unfortunately, the expensive film essentially dissapeared from theaters after a couple of weeks, losing out to the competition. Another element to be considered is whether or not Jim Carrey will ever find more acceptance as a dramatic actor. While "The Truman Show" had a mix of drama and comedy, "The Majestic" is a straight-forward and mostly serious effort.
The actor plays Peter Appleton, a young screenwriter working in Hollywood in 1951. He's got a girlfriend, he's got a new movie just in the theaters (starring Bruce Campbell of "Army Of Darkness" in an "Indiana Jones"-ish role - if Harrison Ford doesn't want to do the next "Jones" picture, Campbell should) and everything seems to be going alright. Just when the town seems to be his, he's investigated by the government for a communist meeting he'd attended in college - although he only went to impress a girl he liked. He winds up drinking at a local bar and driving off after, only to take a plunge with his car off a bridge.
Waking up the next morning on the beach, he has no memory of who he is. The kindly townspeople take the young man in and fix him up, only to be amazed when they realize that he looks an awful lot like Luke Trumble, a young man who was thought lost in the war. Luke's father (Martin Landau) is overjoyed, vowing to reopen his old movie theater, The Majestic, whose staff seems just as pleased to start the projector again. Peter even finds love with Luke's old girlfriend, Adele (a terrific Laurie Holden).
The film is not ashamed to be manipulative, but Darabont and his cast pull of a respectable mixture of sappiness (Mark Isham's score) and simply letting the actors create characters that the audience can care about. Although I'm sure that many will name Carrey's performance in "The Truman Show" as the actor's best, he's exceptionally good in his first completely dramatic picture. This really seems to be Carrey's big attempt to prove that he can be more than a comedian and he pulls it off - but hardly anyone saw it. He even has very nice chemistry with co-star Laurie Holden.
The film is also technically impressive, with remarkable recreations of period details and a luxurious, downright expensive appearance. Cinematographer David Tattersall ("Star Wars: Ep. 1 & 2", Darabont's "Green Mile") captures it all wonderfully - most of the scenes look almost postcard-perfect. Everything from set decoration to costumes are exceptionally well-done. The theater of the title is a stunning palace - the kind that isn't seen anymore.
The problems? Although I wasn't terribly bothered, "The Majestic" does start to run rather long at 150 minutes. A good 15-20 minutes of editing could have aided the picture's pace. I really didn't have too many other concerns - while I certainly think "Shawshank Redemption" is director Darabont's finest work, "The Majestic" is an innocent, enjoyable piece, as well. It's manipulative and a little flawed here and there, to be sure, but its charms won me over.
The DVD
VIDEO: Warner Brothers presents "The Majestic" in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. While I wouldn't consider it one of the studio's finest recent efforts in terms of picture quality, I found the presentation to be a highly enjoyable offering that presented the film's beautiful imagery well. Sharpness and detail are very good, if not striking. The film's intentionally slightly soft appearance still manages to look smooth, crisp and nicely detailed.
However, a few problems were spotted. Edge enhancement occasionally appeared in light amounts - while noticable, it didn't cause a great deal of irritation. A couple of very light specks were also seen on the print used but, for the most part, the picture was completely free of any wear. Pixelation wasn't noticed.
The film's beautiful, warm color palette was wonderfully rendered, from the deep reds and earthly colors of the theater interiors to the deep blues of the sky (maybe computer-generated in a few instances) in the outdoor scenes. No smearing or other faults were noticed. Black level remained solid, while flesh tones looked accurate. A nice effort from the studio.
SOUND: "The Majestic" is presented by Warner Brothers in Dolby Digital 5.1. A mostly dialogue-driven drama, the film really doesn't have much need for very active sound use. The surrounds do contribute a light amount of ambience and occasional bits of music, but they mostly remain silent.
MENUS: The main menu is non-animated, essentially offering the poster art (which is better than the DVD cover art) as a background.
EXTRAS: A few supplements are offered: 6 deleted scenes, which are extensions of scenes in the picture, are presented without any commentary. The film-within-the-film "Sand Pirates of the Sahara" is offered here, with the complete 4 1/2 minute sequence able to be viewed. The trailer, text information about the Hollywood blacklist and bios are also included.
Final Thoughts: Audiences didn't respond to this old-fashioned drama from Carrey and Darabont, but I found it to be sweet, well-acted and beautifully made, if a bit overlong. Those who missed it in theaters should consider giving it a try as a rental, while fans might want to consider a purchase.
"The Majestic" is a case of a well-made and old fashioned picture simply not finding its audience. Released during the Christmas rush, the studio likely thought that the film's warm-hearted nature and strong list of performers would bring in an audience - unfortunately, the expensive film essentially dissapeared from theaters after a couple of weeks, losing out to the competition. Another element to be considered is whether or not Jim Carrey will ever find more acceptance as a dramatic actor. While "The Truman Show" had a mix of drama and comedy, "The Majestic" is a straight-forward and mostly serious effort.
The actor plays Peter Appleton, a young screenwriter working in Hollywood in 1951. He's got a girlfriend, he's got a new movie just in the theaters (starring Bruce Campbell of "Army Of Darkness" in an "Indiana Jones"-ish role - if Harrison Ford doesn't want to do the next "Jones" picture, Campbell should) and everything seems to be going alright. Just when the town seems to be his, he's investigated by the government for a communist meeting he'd attended in college - although he only went to impress a girl he liked. He winds up drinking at a local bar and driving off after, only to take a plunge with his car off a bridge.
Waking up the next morning on the beach, he has no memory of who he is. The kindly townspeople take the young man in and fix him up, only to be amazed when they realize that he looks an awful lot like Luke Trumble, a young man who was thought lost in the war. Luke's father (Martin Landau) is overjoyed, vowing to reopen his old movie theater, The Majestic, whose staff seems just as pleased to start the projector again. Peter even finds love with Luke's old girlfriend, Adele (a terrific Laurie Holden).
The film is not ashamed to be manipulative, but Darabont and his cast pull of a respectable mixture of sappiness (Mark Isham's score) and simply letting the actors create characters that the audience can care about. Although I'm sure that many will name Carrey's performance in "The Truman Show" as the actor's best, he's exceptionally good in his first completely dramatic picture. This really seems to be Carrey's big attempt to prove that he can be more than a comedian and he pulls it off - but hardly anyone saw it. He even has very nice chemistry with co-star Laurie Holden.
The film is also technically impressive, with remarkable recreations of period details and a luxurious, downright expensive appearance. Cinematographer David Tattersall ("Star Wars: Ep. 1 & 2", Darabont's "Green Mile") captures it all wonderfully - most of the scenes look almost postcard-perfect. Everything from set decoration to costumes are exceptionally well-done. The theater of the title is a stunning palace - the kind that isn't seen anymore.
The problems? Although I wasn't terribly bothered, "The Majestic" does start to run rather long at 150 minutes. A good 15-20 minutes of editing could have aided the picture's pace. I really didn't have too many other concerns - while I certainly think "Shawshank Redemption" is director Darabont's finest work, "The Majestic" is an innocent, enjoyable piece, as well. It's manipulative and a little flawed here and there, to be sure, but its charms won me over.
The DVD
VIDEO: Warner Brothers presents "The Majestic" in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. While I wouldn't consider it one of the studio's finest recent efforts in terms of picture quality, I found the presentation to be a highly enjoyable offering that presented the film's beautiful imagery well. Sharpness and detail are very good, if not striking. The film's intentionally slightly soft appearance still manages to look smooth, crisp and nicely detailed.
However, a few problems were spotted. Edge enhancement occasionally appeared in light amounts - while noticable, it didn't cause a great deal of irritation. A couple of very light specks were also seen on the print used but, for the most part, the picture was completely free of any wear. Pixelation wasn't noticed.
The film's beautiful, warm color palette was wonderfully rendered, from the deep reds and earthly colors of the theater interiors to the deep blues of the sky (maybe computer-generated in a few instances) in the outdoor scenes. No smearing or other faults were noticed. Black level remained solid, while flesh tones looked accurate. A nice effort from the studio.
SOUND: "The Majestic" is presented by Warner Brothers in Dolby Digital 5.1. A mostly dialogue-driven drama, the film really doesn't have much need for very active sound use. The surrounds do contribute a light amount of ambience and occasional bits of music, but they mostly remain silent.
MENUS: The main menu is non-animated, essentially offering the poster art (which is better than the DVD cover art) as a background.
EXTRAS: A few supplements are offered: 6 deleted scenes, which are extensions of scenes in the picture, are presented without any commentary. The film-within-the-film "Sand Pirates of the Sahara" is offered here, with the complete 4 1/2 minute sequence able to be viewed. The trailer, text information about the Hollywood blacklist and bios are also included.
Final Thoughts: Audiences didn't respond to this old-fashioned drama from Carrey and Darabont, but I found it to be sweet, well-acted and beautifully made, if a bit overlong. Those who missed it in theaters should consider giving it a try as a rental, while fans might want to consider a purchase.
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