‘Jimmy’ Review: Cornball James Stewart Biopic Gets the Manner, but Not the Man

KJ Apa gives a passable impression of James Stewart in *Jimmy*, a biopic that focuses more on the actor’s military service and patriotic image than on his screen artistry. The review finds the film superficial, arguing that it presents Stewart as a broadly virtuous everyman without offering much insight into his character or legacy.

The story follows Stewart from his 1941 draft notice, shortly after his Academy Award win for *The Philadelphia Story*, through his enlistment as an Air Force bomber pilot in England during the Second World War. It also depicts his friendship with director Frank Capra, a fictionalised romance and the making of *It’s a Wonderful Life*, including its bridge prayer scene, which Stewart called his favourite of his films. The review criticises the film’s sentimental tone and says it misses the tensions between Stewart’s celebrity, military service and civilian life.