The Majestic 2001

This is the first Jim Carrey movie that showed me that this actor can play a serious, thoughtful role, and play it well. Carrey stars as Peter Appleton, a Hollywood script writer who gets on a blacklist as a Communist sympathizer (it's 1951). The studio closes his current project and no longer wants to work with him; Peter's girlfriend swiftly dumps him, not wishing to ruin her own career. Peter gets drunk and drives away, and his car falls off a bridge into a river. When he is washed ashore, he has no memory of who he is and what happened to him.

Found by a kind old man, Peter is taken to a small town of Lawson where he is mistaken for Luke Trimble, a war hero who has been missing for 9 years. Luke's father is the first man to "recognize" Peter as his son. Since Peter does not know who he is, he believes the old man and starts living as Luke, hoping that his memory returns someday. Adele (Laurie Holden), Luke's beautiful girlfriend, also accepts Peter as Luke, and they "continue" dating. The whole town is happy about Luke's return... But what happens when the truth about Peter's identity comes out?

I greatly enjoyed this unfairly little known movie. Jim Carrey surprised me with his portrayal of Peter, thoughtful and well-balanced, nothing close to his comedy over-acting that I personally find quite annoying. Laurie Holden is wonderful as Adele - beautiful, intelligent, sincere. I also liked David Ogden Stiers' (Major Winchester from MASH) appearance as her father Doctor Stanton.