BEFORE: Tonight the Jim Carrey Wheel of Mental Illness lands on...amnesia!
THE PLOT: 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.
AFTER: There's a lot going on here - from the aforementioned amnesia, to a look at 1950's small-town America, and a commentary on the Red Scare and McCarthy hearings. I expected a lot of phony, overblown nostalgia, but instead I found there was a good deal of heart lurking beneath it all. Like the candy counter under a sheet and a layer of dust...
Jim Carrey's amnesiac screenwriter, Peter Appleton, turns up in an idyllic California town, and apparently bears more than a passing resemblance to a soldier who was lost in action during World War II. He sort of "fills in the blanks" enough to believe himself to actually be the long-lost Luke Trimble, and "reunites" with Luke's father. Together they re-build the town theater, the Majestic of the title, and bring hope back to a community, in the form of Hollywood magic.
I've worked in movie theaters, twice in my life - and let me tell you, nothing can make you hate movies more than working in a theater...tearing tickets and cleaning up candy wrappers turned out to not be as glamorous as I was led to believe. Still, all the popcorn I could eat, and lemonade concentrate shooters when I got tired...oh, yeah, and free movies - but who wants to spend their day off going back to their job, just to watch a movie? I suppose it made me anxious to get myself to the big city and MAKE movies, instead of just watching them.
Still, I'm a big fan of watching movies in theaters, I wish I could do it more often - it's kind of ironic for me to watch a movie about a grand theater on a little round disc that plays on my computer screen.
When they tore down the Showcase Cinemas in Dedham, MA, I had to go visit the pile of rubble (since they wouldn't let me swing the wrecking ball myself). I guess I had mixed emotions, happy that I didn't ever have to work there any more, but sad that part of my life was gone, with no chance of coming back. There's an upscale mall (excuse me, "lifestyle center") there now, actually I think the mall parking lot is where the movie theatre used to be - is that progress?
On a similar note, I found out today that my ex-father-in-law passed away, about a month ago. I don't know what's appropriate, since I hadn't seen the man in over 14 years, and there's a little piece of paper that says that we weren't officially family any more. Still, I'm dragged through the five stages all at once, sadness of course, plus denial since it happened a month ago and in Cleveland, and some anger since I wasn't told when it happened, so I had no chance to pay my respects. I'm a firm believer in going to other people's funerals (or else they won't come to mine...) but again, not sure what the protocol is with regards to the ex's family.
Like Jim Carrey's character, I never know when something will arise that forces me to remember the life I used to lead. Perhaps I've got mixed emotions for someone who accepted me as a part of his family, but later probably blamed me for a lot of things that weren't my fault (and some that probably were...)
Damn movie sucker-punched me with a Capra-esque ending - Jim Carrey's no Jimmy Stewart, but he sort of comes close here. The implication is that you can go home again, even if it's to someplace that wasn't your home to begin with. Again, is that progress?
Also starring Martin Landau (last seen in "Hollywood Homicide"), Bob Balaban (last seen in "Lady in the Water"), David Ogden Stiers, Ron Rifkin (last seen in "The Negotiator"), and a ton of character actors - Hal Holbrook (last seen in "Magnum Force"), James Whitmore (last seen in "Nuts"), Daniel Von Bargen (last seen in "A Civil Action"), Brent Briscoe, Brian Howe, plus cameos from Bruce Campbell (last seen in "Sky High"), Cliff Curtis (last seen in "Blow"), and the rare voice cameos (!) of Garry Marshall, Sydney Pollack, Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner, and Matt Damon.
RATING: 8 out of 10 boxes of Raisinets
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