The Majestic (5 Stars)

This is the third film that was directed by Frank Darabont. His first two films, "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile" are more famous, but this film is every bit as good.

The film takes place in 1951. Peter Appleton (played by James Carrey) is at the beginning of his career as a Hollywood screenwriter. The first film that he's written, "Sand Pirates of the Sahara", has just been released. Then he's visited by government agents who tell him he's been blacklisted and can never work again in the film business because he visited a meeting of the Communist party while he was in college. Peter gets drunk, he drives his car off a bridge, and he wakes up on the beach in the small town of Lawson with amnesia.

Lawson is stricken with grief because 72 of its young men, an enormous number in such a small town, have been killed in the Second World War. But Peter's arrival is a shock. He's mistaken for Luke Trimble, the son of the town's cinema owner, a war hero who hasn't been seen since 1942. He's taken in by the man who thinks Peter is his son, and together they reopen "The Majestic", the town's only cinema. Everyone is happy again.

I admit that this film isn't for everyone. It moves slowly, just like Darabont's first two films. And yet it's a masterpiece. Every detail of the small town life is memorable. It's difficult to describe the effect the film has on me. Jim Carrey is at his best. Brilliant!

Watch the trailer. That's the best way to get an impression of the film.