| "You can be all smart or all pleasant. I used to be smart... now I'm pleasant." |
It's really nice, upon occasion, to watch a movie that's nice and heartwarming without being sentimental and kitsch. The word used most often in "Harvey" is "pleasant." Pleasant works. And, like most of the characters decide, sometimes choosing to be pleasant is better than choosing to be regular, or choosing to be smart. Lucky for this movie, it's both pleasant and smart.
Now, if you haven't seen this movie yourself, you've probably seen clips of it on other movies, such as "Field of Dreams." But really, seeing this movie would be something you should get around to doing. James Stewart plays the warm small-town friendly neighbor with aplomb, even when in socially awkward situations involving disbelief of his pooka. Everyone else plays the anxious ones... people running around getting into fits because of things they only half understand. But as the story goes on, Stewart's Elwood P. Dowd becomes the calm center of gravity that everyone eventually leans on to take a breath of air and let their imagination go.
What we get is a re-affirmation of imagination and faith, much like the feeling to be gotten from "Miracle on 34th Street." However, "Harvey" can be watched year round! And best of all, it shows how to be a good person beyond simply catering to beliefs, but truly following a smile and an ear for listening. "Seems like it'd be a little dull, you should let her do the talking", Dowd tells the psychologist (!) who confesses his escapist dream to sit under a tree, drink beer, and talk to a woman for two weeks. Dowd is both wise and happy, and the movie makes no point of trying to give him difficulties... it's everyone else's problem if they don't want to believe in 6'3 1/2" rabbits...
--PolarisDiB |
4 Rating
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| Great movie, but why not in widescreen? |
I'm giving the movie itself four stars, but if I were rating the product I would give it only two.
How come the only widescreen release of this movie is the one that comes with the big James Stewart package? It should also be rereleased by itself in widescreen, for those who already own one or more of the movies in the "The James Stewart Hollywood Legend Collection." I don't want to pay over $40 for movies I already own just so I could get "Harvey" in widescreen, but I refuse to buy anything in fullscreen since I learned how much it detracts from the film.
So it looks like I won't be getting "Harvey" after all. Too bad, it's a wonderful film. |
4 Rating
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