Anyone looking for an anecdote to the attacks on our nation on September 11th need look no further than "The Majestic," a film that captures America's innocence and moral virtue better than any movie of the year. Director Frank Darabont helms the picture with many of his usual trademarks, while the ensemble cast, led by Jim Carrey in his most winning role to date, brings the movie's heart and soul home with effective results. The movie is like a breath of fresh air, a morality-based fable that comes at a time when our country seems to need one the most.

The movies avoids type-casting by placing Carrey in the role of Peter Appleton, a Hollywood screenwriter who wants nothing more than to see his B-list scripts becomes A-list successes. At a time when the communist threat was ever-present in the United States, nothing, not even screenwriters, could escape the possibility of being blacklisted as Red spies and allies. When Peter's script "Ashes to Ashes" is seized by the FBI, he heads for a local pub, gets drunk, and goes for a drive, with a stuffed monkey as his sole companion.

This icy look at his big-city life is interrupted when a fateful accident on a bridge places him on a beach near the town of Lawton, stricken with amnesia and a scar on his forehead. Peter is later picked up by a local resident and taken into town, where citizen Harry Trimble (Martin Landau) mistakes him for his long-lost son Luke, believed to be dead as a result of World War II. Soon, the whole town is in a joyous uproar at their hero's return; Peter, having no recollection of his previous Los Angeles existence or the threat to his career, accepts this as his life.

At the heart of the town is Trimble's one-screen movie theater, The Majestic, which he hopes to rebuild now that his son has returned home. Luke (Peter) finds his inspiration to remember in Adele (Laurie Holden), who shows him around town and relates stories of his teenage years before the war. As their relationship begins to rekindle, he warms to his past life, and agrees to help reopen the theater, unaware of the manhunt for him and the threat of regaining his memory.

It is in roles such as this that Jim Carrey is at his most admirable, combining comedy and emotion with incredible ability. As Peter/Luke, he is given the opportunity to broaden his acting, and he capitalizes on that chance with a performance that is both moving and uplifting. His leading lady, Laurie Holden, employs real charm and charisma in her role as Adele; it helps, too, that she embodies the wholesome physical appeal of a 50's lady, which provides a very nice chemistry for Luke and Adele's calendar-art romance.

Just as his cast works its magic, Frank Darabont effectively infuses the film with an emotional connection as he did with "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile," which also relied on character-based emotion to relate a powerful story. In "The Majestic," the same formula applies: Darabont uses this to juxtapose two very different ways of life, so that Lawton is almost like an escape from the harsh realities of the outside world. As we witness the unfolding of Luke's life as Peter struggles to remember it, we find ourselves longing for his acceptance of this richer, more fulfilling life, just as we are also dreading what we know must come: his remembrance of his life before the accident.

The town of Lawton, as it appears in the film, is a thriving center of American nostalgia and virtue, from the heroic sons lost to the war to the pictures in the windows of businesses and homes as a reminder of their courage. The town is a portrait of America's innocence gone by, a type of place where everyone knew everyone else, where the death of one meant the grieving of all, where the courage of its brave young soldiers was something to be revered and respected, and where the singing of our national anthem actually had meaning and feeling behind the words.

The ability of "The Majestic" to portray our country's most admirable traits is reminiscent of the films of yesteryear, especially those of Frank Capra, famous for instilling these characteristics into his many works. Some will argue that this film is too Capra-esque for its own good, but I must say that I was moved by its celebration of life and unity, as well as the lesson it teaches about our country in its well-thought conclusion. In a time when our country is in great need of patriotism and morals, this film delivers both in a pleasing fashion.

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