The Majestic (2001)

Despite a deftly understated performance from leading man Jim Carrey, this fable from writer Michael Sloane and director Frank Darabont too self-consciously apes the work of Frank Capra and Preston Sturges, while giving in to Darabont's penchant for inflated running times. It's a shame that, given the picture's nearly three-hour length, many of the characters' emotional connections don't play realistically. Especially unconvincing is the burgeoning romance between Carrey and his leading lady, Laurie Holden, which happens at a lightning pace; after she makes a few comments about needing to be convinced of his identity, she's speedily frolicking with him in a sunset-dappled field and helping him scale a picturesque lighthouse. It's all handled with so much precious, gauzy triteness that the film's more serious themes don't resonate and its emotional beats aren't convincing. A tighter story structure and swifter pacing might have helped things considerably: Audiences want to like sweet, patriotic tales such as this and are willing to check their cynicism at the theater door if the film doesn't bluntly pummel them with treacle and phony melodrama. Despite his hefty paychecks, Carrey is fast becoming one of the cinema's most underrated leading men, but unfortunately, he's not likely to help his cause with the subtlety and naturalism of his performance here. Like his fellow thespian Tom Cruise, he's advanced his craft to the point of making it look too easy. If the rest of this material displayed his same mastery of tone and subtext, The Majestic (2001) would have been a nostalgic winner. Instead, it's a potent reminder that Capra, while not taken seriously by many in his lifetime, was truly a master of his homey, flag-waving idiom. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide