The Majestic
dir. Frank Darabont
Warner Bros.
The Majestic has been much maligned, earning a spot on several
critics' worst-of-2001 lists. Reviews have unfavorably compared
the film to drivel, hooey,
schlock and crap.
I haven't seen a movie take this savage a critical beating since
Battlefield Earth,
a waste of celluloid that deserved its crucifixion.
The contempt for The Majestic is uncalled for. The story
follows a 1950s screenwriter suspected of harboring Communist leanings
as he temporarily loses his identity along the way to finding his
soul, and it's compelling. The movie's twin settings — witch-hunt-crazed
Hollywood and a patriotic small town — sparkle with old-fashioned
style. Jim Carrey in the lead and a pitch-perfect supporting cast
that includes Martin Landau make their characters' hopes, fears
and flaws undoubtedly clear.
So why is this pristine film being soiled
with rotten tomatoes? In a word: cynicism.
There appears to be an unwillingness to simply relax, suspend the
hard rules of reality and enjoy a talkie. Unless a movie plays dark
mind games like The Others, outshines the sun with devil-may-care
star power like Ocean's Eleven
or peddles art-house wit like The Royal
Tenenbaums, it's dismissed as undemanding, uncool or unsophisticated.
If a film is going to include flights of fancy, then it had better
star a wizard named Harry or Gandalf. For professional and finicky
moviegoers, a film has to short-circuit their expectations, sensibilities
or retinas. Otherwise, it's like…a sweet, straightforward movie.
A lot of criticism has also focused on how The Majestic deals
with the Red Scare, McCarthyism and the blacklist. Those crazed
days when Congress ran
roughshod over the Constitution in order to purge the country
of Communists are now a national shame. The Majestic address
McCarthyism like Gone with the Wind addresses the Civil War
— both movies use painful points in history for backdrop and
pretense. McCarthyism is a prop for Jim Carrey to react to just
as the ravages of war gave Vivien Leigh something to shake her fist
at. And both films can rightly employ history as a plot device,
because neither movie ever marketed itself as an in-depth examination
of history on the level of, say, Schindler's
List.
From its painted retro poster to its quaint television advertisements,
The Majestic pledged to be a comforting homage to the era
of black-and-white picture shows. It masterfully delivers on that
promise. Of course, The Majestic is liberal and preachy,
predictable and sugar-coated. By so being, it's keyed in to a sturdy,
unimpeachable tradition of movies — the social-problem pictures
of the '40s, the unapologetic entertainments of the Depression era,
the whole Tracy/Hepburn ouevre.
The invitation to The Majestic clearly stated that the audience
was to remain seated, quiet and open to the warm, familiar otherworldliness
of the cinema. The man at the center of the film is a lovable guy
being kicked around by unjust powers. He's us — ambitious,
hardworking and subject to the authority of other petty people.
The town he transforms is one that desperately needs a rebound,
having been dealt too much bloody misfortune. The dialogue is packed
with earnest lines about sacrifice, courage and conviction. They're
words to listen to in the dark to have your spirits lifted, if you
let them in.
So there. The Majestic is unapologetically endearing. How's
that for an edge? The film has no explosive tricks or blunt trauma
to the viewer. Only the sturdy mechanics and magic of a wholesome
movie show through in The Majestic. If you wear skepticism
like a badge, then The Majestic might be too much for you.
— Rasheed Newson (rasheednewson@hotmail.com)
