There’s a scene in “Jimmy” where the actor James Stewart (KJ Apa) goes on a little rendezvous with Lady Julia (Kara Killmer), an aristocratic Brit he’s met while fighting for the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.
They take refuge under a bridge while it rains, trading secrets and lightly flirting well into the night. At one point, Lady Julia asks James – Jimmy, if you will – if the real James Stewart is as earnest, dear, and courageous as the characters he plays in movies.
There’s a lot to suggest that the real James Stewart, who is among one of the most popular classic Hollywood actors of all time, might have been as likeable as he pre-war movie persona would lead you to believe (post-war is a different story – the James Stewart of “Vertigo” is very different from the James Stewart of “The Philadelphia Story.”) But, there’s also a heck of a lot to suggest that he – like any human being – was complicated. And “Jimmy” is absolutely uninterested in that complication, preferring to keep the man a myth – or, more accurately, a cartoonish, bumbling superhero.
Directed by Aaron Burns and written by Justin Strawhand, “Jimmy” is the latest in a long, seemingly never-ending series of biopics about famous people where the actor playing said famous person endures a minor physical transformation and sort of learns how to do their voice – and we’re all supposed to be very impressed by that fact. Some of these films are less offensive than others, but “Jimmy” is among the worst of them. It looks flat and uncanny, characterized by a surface level, sanitized exploration of one of America’s most canonized actors, and led by an ill-conceived performance.
“Jimmy” follows the actor from the height of his fame pre-war through his decision to enlist in World War II (he was the first major American movie star to do so), and then through his military service and the filming of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the first film he made after returning home.
In addition to his romance with Lady Julia – a composite character meant to represent various romantic relationships that Stewart had before he met his wife, Gloria – Stewart’s time in the war makes up the bulk of the film. By all accounts, Stewart suffered from severe PTSD when he returned from the war, and “Jimmy” attempts to show us the moments in the air and the comrades lost that caused that. The effect, however, feels more like a bad video game than combat. The environments are not physical and horribly rendered, the muddy visual effects taking over what should be the sharp shock of war. Visually, there’s nothing to draw you in, nothing to make you feel the horror that Stewart and the rest of the pilots must have experienced.
Read Sammie’s full review on Rough Draft
