The Majestic (2001)

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:

Communist | Small Town | Writer | Car | Screenwriter

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

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:

At one point, while the characters in the film are examining a store-front display of World War II heroes, a photograph of several men in uniform is shown. This photo is of actual soldiers that fought in World War II, all of whom made their home at the location of the film shoot, Ferndale, California.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The siren speaker on the police car is a Federal Signals electronic speaker that was not introduced on police cars until the mid-'60s. Sirens of the era of this movie would've been electro-mechanical wind sirens.

Quotes:

Peter Appleton: [Seeing Adele at the cemetery] I didn't know anyone was here.
Adele: I was just... Saying goodbye.
Peter Appleton: Adele, I'm sorry the way things turned out. I never meant to hurt anyone, least of all you.
Adele: People get hurt sometimes, we can't always help it. So are you really a Communist?
Peter Appleton: No, I'm really not.
Adele: I didn't think so. Only a died in the wool Capitalist could have gotten The Majestic up and running.
Peter Appleton: Great endorsement. Can I call you as a witness?
Adele: Eh, if it helps. So what will you tell the committee?
Peter Appleton: Tell them what they want to hear: "Sorry, I won't do it again, blah, blah."
Adele: You're not serious.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "HBO First Look: The Majestic (#8.21)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

Stranger on the Shore

old fashioned Kapra-Korn, well-done

Jim Carey is a man who literally re-defines himself in the mold of the small-town hero. A recently black-listed Hollywood screenwriter, Carey, is leaving Tinseltown on a feel-sorry-for-yourself drunk drive and winds up washed up (literally and figuratively) on a beach having suffered amnesia. He's taken to a picturesque coastal California town and is mistaken (or is he?) for one of their boys lost in WWII. And what a boy he was--handsome, caring, talented... and engaged to the local Drs. daughter. Carey's character is confused and taken in by the love given by this town for their supposed returning war hero. But is he that man? Will he marry the girl "he" left behind? Will the commie chasers from J. Edgar Hooverland find him and make him face the music? Who is he, really! This is a throw back to the Kapra-Korn of earlier years. This is a movie that unabashedly creates a small town America that never was so polished and gleaming. But despite the cornball-ity of the whole thing, the sincerity of Mr. Carey's acting along with a fine ensemble cast pulls it off. It successfully explores the questions of just who are we, as inviduals and as a society? Can we measure up to the ideals that we hold for ourselves and for our nation? When is expediency--discretion, the better part of valor? Is there a nobility in self-sacrifice and in the angels of our naive and better natures? I like movies (and books and things) that ask questions and explore territory that is often neglected in this fast-cut, MTV film't age. Sure it's corny. More than a bit unrealistic, but the sincerity of script and cast pulls it off. What is the greatest generation? Any one where enough of us face the music... and dance.