Director: Scott Hicks
Writer: Stephen King (book) and William Goldman (screenplay)
Genre: Drama/Mystery/Thriller
Story
Bobby Garfield (Anton Yelchin) lives with his mother Liz (Hope Davis) and struggles to find time to spend with his mother. All he really wants is someone to spend time with him and pay attention to him, but his mother doesn’t seem to have anytime for him. When Ted Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins) moves into the apartment upstairs, this all changes for Bobby. Ted seems to have the eerie ability to know to much about everyone and is a great friend (and fatherly figure) to Bobby.
Everything Else
Hearts in Atlantis has a slow feel to it, but provides enough odd hints at something deeper going on that the viewer should be able to stay engaged. While the directing is certainly not great, it does the job and is clean throughout the film. The real guts of the film comes from Hopkins actually as he is the main character aside from Yelchin’s.
Hopkins does a great job as the mysterious man who lives upstairs who seems to know too much about everyone. This deep character is the one that carries the film. Without the intriguing mystery that surrounds Ted, the movie would have fallen flat on its face. Anton Yelchin does well as the boy, but doesn’t make us tell our friends how great an actor he was. Hope Davis plays the part of annoying and evil seeming mother too well. I often find her one of the most obnoxious people in the movies she is in. Good thing for her this is the character she was supposed to be in this one.
The Real Deal
Hearts in Atlantis was not as good as I was hoping for, but it was entertaining none the less. I would have liked to have seen something more interesting at the end. Don’t watch the film expecting something crazy to happen at the end or you will be disappointed. There is enough at the end to make it interesting, but like someone building you up for a great joke and then forgetting the punch line, Hearts in Atlantis makes you think there will be a huge twist and there is not. The movie was clean for the most part so it could be safe for a wide audience. I have not read the book, but people typically say books are better than movies. Hopefully that is true for Hearts in Atlantis.
The Short Version
Raw Score: 702,001
Sharon Movie? No
7/19/2008
Hearts in Atlantis (2001)
5/31/2008
Sharon Movie: The Majestic (2001)
The Majestic (2001)
Director: Frank Darabont
Writer: Michael Sloane
Genre: Drama/Romance
Story
Peter Appleton (Jim Carrey) is an up and coming screenwriter in Hollywood living in the time after WWII that the government was looking for communists (witch hunt) everywhere. Peter is suspected to be a communist because of some ties to communist groups and the studio cancels all of his movies and his girlfriend dumps him. In his grief he drinks too much and then drives and ends up wrecking his car off a bridge. When he awakes from his wreck he doesn’t remember who he is, but the town he finds himself in believes he is Luke Trimble, a war hero who they thought had died in the war. As Peter tries to learn who he really is and the town welcomes him in everyway possible, Harry Trimble (Martin Landau) gets Peter (who he thinks is his son Luke) to help him rebuild the Majestic (a movie theater) and bring the town back together.
Everything Else
The directing of The Majestic is slow and dull at times, but does the job and even brings a decent amount of emotion into play. There were plenty of cheesy lines and scenes to make this one seem overly unbelievable, but the message and emotion still came across. Possibly the most interesting part about this movie was Jim Carrey’s ability to act in it rather than just act crazy. Carrey is funny and has proven that time and time again, but it was not until this performance that he proved he had a true talent for acting. There is not any Jim Carrey humor in The Majestic and that is a good thing.
The story is an interesting one, but upon second viewing it becomes less compelling and you become more focused on how cheesy everything about the movie is. Also, the movie is very slow to start and doesn’t really get going until about 20 minutes from the end. This film suffers from horrible pacing and over dramatization. Aside from those problems however, the acting and story were quite good. I am a little harsh here, but these are things that one needs to know going into it so that they can enjoy the story and acting even more. Expect the worst and hope for the best is always the best way to go into a movie.
The Real Deal
I liked The Majestic a whole lot more the first time around, but it was still good the second time. It had been quite some time since I had seen it so it should have been a good movie to come back to. I think I would have been better off leaving it where it was in my memory though. The whole idea of the movie is interesting and it is always good to see Jim Carrey actually act. This movie and the Truman Show were the first two movies that made me believe in Carrey’s talent. The Majestic is good for watching with a varied audience. There is not much offensive content and there really is nothing but a little language to be considered. The Majestic is a good lighthearted movie with good moral lessons and values, but it is really a movie you should only watch once.
The Short Version
Raw Score: 764,239
Sharon Movie? Yes
