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Movies / On DVD / The Majestic
The Majestic

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The Majestic (2001)

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Reviews Counted:135

Fresh:56

Rotten:79

Average Rating:4.9/10

Consensus: Ponderous and overlong, The Majestic drowns in forced sentimentality and resembles a mish-mash of other, better films.

Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for language and mild thematic elements

Runtime: 2 hrs 30 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Dec 21, 2001 Wide

Box Office: $27,745,194

Synopsis: In THE MAJESTIC, Jim Carrey stretches his talents and proves that he can be a credible serious actor with his portrayal of Peter Appleton, a Hollywood B-movie screenwriter who is black listed... In THE MAJESTIC, Jim Carrey stretches his talents and proves that he can be a credible serious actor with his portrayal of Peter Appleton, a Hollywood B-movie screenwriter who is black listed during the McCarthy era. A car accident costs him his memory, and in the small coastal town where he ends up, he is mistaken for a local hero, presumed dead almost ten years ago in the war. Unable to recall anything of his "past" in the town, Appleton not only embraces his new identity, but becomes a pillar of the community, restoring hope that the residents lost along with many of their young men in World War II. In the process, he discovers new inspiration, new purpose, and a new life. Director Frank Darabont, true to form, tells a leisurely tale of a man's renewed faith in himself and in others. The film is an homage to old-fashioned values and proud-to-be-an-American patriotism, studded with rock-solid performances not just by Carrey, but by film veterans Martin Landau, Hal Holbrook, and Ron Rifkin, among others. Listen as well for cameo voice overs by Garry Marshall, Matt Damon, and Carl and Rob Reiner. [More]

Starring: Jim Carrey, Laurie Holden, Martin Landau, Jeffrey DeMunn

Starring: Jim Carrey, Laurie Holden, Martin Landau, Jeffrey DeMunn, Bruce Campbell, Bob Balaban, Brent Briscoe, Karl Bury, Amanda Detmer, Allen Garfield, David Ogden Stiers, James Whitmore, Hal Holbrook, Ron Rifkin

Director: Frank Darabont

Director: Frank Darabont
Screenwriter: Michael Sloane
Producer: Jim Behnke, Frank Darabont
Composer: Mark Isham
Studio: Warner Bros.

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Release:

Jun 18, 2002

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Reviews for The Majestic

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81 - 100 (sorted by date)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
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Do Sloane and Darabont really think they can drop the complex blacklist agony into this vat of mush, and say something real?

Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | comment Comment
12/21/01
David Elliott
David Elliott
San Diego Union-Tribune

I think audiences will respond to what seems like the film's 'open heart,' but there's a naggingly insincere and overtly manipulative quality here that leaves an unpleasant aftertaste.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
12/21/01
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

Never stirring, never funny, never romantic, and never less than stultifying.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
12/21/01
Rod Armstrong
Rod Armstrong
Reel.com

The Majestic, an unabashed homage to Frank Capra. There's a reason even in the 1930's they called his movies 'Capracorn,' but, even though I argued withthe ending, this one got to me. The most Christmassy of all the holiday.

Full Review Source: ABCNEWS.COM | comment Comment
12/21/01
Joel Siegel
Joel Siegel
ABCNEWS.COM
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

In truth, you'll be disturbed, wondering which is creepier -- the all-watching eyes of HUAC, or the zombie-like expectations of Lawson?

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
12/21/01
Kim Morgan
Kim Morgan
Oregonian

I never thought I'd say anything like this, but it makes you long for Ace Ventura.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
12/21/01
John Anderson
John Anderson
Newsday
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

With its fake burnished sunsets and wobbly high school band playing the national anthem, The Majestic wavers uncomfortably between blissfully old-fashioned and just plain maudlin.

Full Review Source: Fresno Bee | comment Comment
12/21/01
Donald Munro
Donald Munro
Fresno Bee

A bloated Capra-esque fable that stubbornly refuses to come to life.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
12/21/01
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Rarely has a film that's not all that original been so doggedly enjoyable and surprisingly endearing.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
12/21/01
Duane Dudek
Duane Dudek
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A deeply flawed movie and doesn't deliver the goods.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
12/21/01
Bruce Kirkland
Bruce Kirkland
Jam! Movies

So, you're going along with your life as a rich Hollywood screenwriter, and BAM! You get amnesia. Ain't that the way it always goes?

Full Review Source: IFilm | comment Comment
12/21/01
Dave White
Dave White
IFilm

[Darabont] makes us care about the characters and their dilemmas; he's made this old-fashioned tale vital and engaging.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
12/21/01
Eric Harrison
Eric Harrison
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Despite the direction and Landau's performance, The Majestic ends up shooting itself in the foot with nostalgia overload.

Full Review Source: BeatBoxBetty.com | comment Comment
12/21/01
BeatBoxBetty.com

This 2½-hour celebration of small-town America, the magic of the movies and free speech is so broadly manipulative and simplistic, it risks giving all three of them a bad name.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
12/21/01
Liam Lacey
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Even for those to whom rank cynicism comes hard, The Majestic must seem hopelessly derivative, contrived, manipulative and, finally, insulting.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
12/21/01
Susan Stark
Susan Stark
Detroit News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Even Capra would blanch, if he could stay awake, at Darabont's attempt to force-feed such hollow, phony and insincere sentimentality as infuses Majestic.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
12/21/01
Steven Rosen
Steven Rosen
Denver Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The ghost of Frank Capra haunts the movie so fiercely, audiences may pray for an exorcist.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
12/21/01
Philip Wuntch
Philip Wuntch
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No small town was ever this forgiving, no blacklist story turned out this triumphal and -- whatever other falsehoods we may fall for or even cherish -- few Americans are as gullible as The Majestic wants to think we are.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
12/21/01
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

The Majestic is to Frank Capra what a '50s theme restaurant is to the '50s -- nostalgic, but artificial.

Full Review Source: Citysearch | comment Comment
12/21/01
Dan Fazio
Dan Fazio
Citysearch

It tells a full story with three acts, it introduces characters we get to know and care about, and it has something it passionately wants to say.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
12/21/01
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
81 - 100 (sorted by date)
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Latest News for The Majestic

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