As a big fan of Jimmy Stewart, I was pretty keen to catch this when it showed up on TV the other night. I was, to put it mildly, disappointed. There's a sweet, charming movie in this mess somewhere, but we're effectively kept from it by an army of grotesque, ridiculously exaggerated characters who are next to impossible to root for. I wasn't surprised at all to learn that the original play had a much smaller cast; it's clear to me that a shorter film, with a half dozen characters trimmed and the remainder endowed with a degree of self-awareness, would have been twice as enjoyable. As it it is, it may have been fun to write or to film - but it just isn't fun to watch.
"Harvey" and "The Shop Around the Corner" -- two of my favorite Stewart movies -- played the same night, and this one suffered all the more from the comparisons. See those. Skip this.
"Harvey" and "The Shop Around the Corner" -- two of my favorite Stewart movies -- played the same night, and this one suffered all the more from the comparisons. See those. Skip this.