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KJ Apa’s James Stewart biopic takes a sentimental, conventional approach
KJ Apa plays James Stewart in a biopic focused on the actor’s decision to serve in the US military during the Second World War and the effects of combat on his return to Hollywood. The film presents his service as a defining thread in his life, leading into his role in It’s a Wonderful Life, but its conventional, sentimental approach leaves little room for complexity.
Apa gives a solid impression of Stewart’s distinctive voice and physical mannerisms, particularly in scenes of emotional distress. The film begins after Stewart won the best actor Oscar for The Philadelphia Story in 1941: despite an executive’s offer to make his draft notice disappear, Stewart chose to serve as a bomber pilot and squadron captain. He loses men under his command, struggles with guilt and what the review describes as PTSD, and later returns to acting with encouragement from director Frank Capra.
In short
- KJ Apa gives a convincing impression of James Stewart.
- The biopic centres on Stewart’s wartime service and its aftermath.
- Its sentimental, straightforward approach misses a more complex story.
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The case for
A conventional, sentimental approach can suit a biopic about Stewart’s wartime service by making his sense of duty, grief and return to acting accessible to a broad audience. By centring his decision to serve and the losses he endured, the film gives emotional weight to a defining chapter in his life, while Apa’s performance conveys Stewart’s manner and distress.
The case against
The same approach can make a complex life feel overly neat, turning Stewart’s service and recovery into a familiar path from sacrifice to personal redemption. A more searching film might have explored his guilt, trauma and the pressures of returning to Hollywood with greater ambiguity, rather than tying his wartime experience so conventionally to his later work.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “Jimmy review – simple-minded James Stewart biopic is too straightforward”.