This is a surprising misstep from Darabont, the gifted writer-director of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. Maybe the two obvious differences are to blame: He didn't write this script, and it's not based on a Stephen King story. Set in 1951, it's the story of Peter Appleton (Carrey), a Hollywood B-movie writer who gets caught up in McCarthyism. Threatened with blacklisting, he goes for a long drive, crashes his car and hits his head, getting amnesia. The small town that finds him recognises him as a lost war hero. Soon he's setting up home with "Dad" (Landau), rekindling romance with his sweetheart (Holden) and reopening the family-owned Majestic cinema. But the House Un-American Activities Committee is on his trail!

There's the germ of a good idea here, using lots of film references to tell a movie-like story. But screenwriter Sloane does everything superficially--borrowing movie scenes without drawing out any new meaning, using lame plot devices that simple never engage us, writing unbelievably corny dialog and inserting stirring speeches at every turn (all empty rhetoric, sounding good but saying nothing). Meanwhile, Darabont gets it wrong as well--making everything warm and sweet and missing out on any real life edge whatsoever. He also overdoes it on the soppy score (Mark Isham again!), ludicrously precious production design and, especially, the running time. Meanwhile, the extremely good cast is asked to smile endlessly and emote constantly without ever having proper characters to play in the first place. It's a complete mess, and all the more so since the historic events (McCarthy hearings, the aftermath of WWII) and the central themes (patriotism, bravery, integrity and loyalty) are so important. And so mishandled.

themes, language

14.Mar.02