Christmas is around the corner. And that means it’s time to surrender to “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Frank Capra’s 1946 heart-tugger starring Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, a family man who gets a second chance when his guardian angel saves him from suicide during the holidays.
That beloved film is getting renewed attention this fall in a new Capra biography, a Broadway stage adaptation and a biopic from the director Aaron Burns. “Jimmy,” the sappy-sincere film, draws a direct line to “Wonderful Life” from Stewart’s service as a combat pilot in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II.
The film focuses mostly on wartime events and includes Stewart’s aerial combat missions, his romantic interludes and uplifting speeches to fellow soldiers. KJ Apa is terrific as Stewart, mimicking but not mocking the unmistakable affect and aw-shucks charm of the Pennsylvania farm boy turned Hollywood leading man.
Justin Strawhand’s script too heavy-handedly ties Stewart’s personal trials to Capra’s cinematic fictions. Take an early scene in which Stewart, alone in a church, says he’s “not much of a praying man,” but nonetheless asks God for help. It’s almost identical to a pivotal scene in “Wonderful Life” — recreated in “Jimmy” — in which George, in tears at Martini’s bar, beseeches heaven to deliver him from despair. Veracity aside, it’s cornball stuff.
But “Jimmy” won’t have it any other way. Give in to it or not, but only Scrooges would roll their eyes at a film that wears its big heart on its tear-soaked sleeve.
Jimmy Rated PG-13 for restrained combat violence. Running time: 2 hours. In theaters.
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