Jul. 04, 2002 - 1:53 am
another one of those movies i always heard about growing up. a very well liked film. it's just cute and well-made and you can't help but smile as you watch it. warm-hearted i guess you'd call it. i meant to watch this last weekend, but never got around to it with all of the unexpected new films i ended up seeing with friends. luckily i can just keep getting the library to send me the same film over and over if i like. still not paying a penny for the service. this one is currently number 222 on the IMDb's top 250 list, voted on by people like you and me. i really started wanting to see this after i saw all the similarites between this and Donnie Darko (2001). you need to see Donnie Darko.
this was Jimmy Stewart's favorite film that he ever starred in. he was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as the loveable alcoholic who is convinced that he has a 6'3.5" talking bunny rabbit as a best friend. of course, no one else can actually see Harvey, well for the most part. the movie mostly centers around one specific episode in Elwood (Stewart) and Harvey's lives together where Elwood's family tries to have him committed to a sanitarium in order to rid him of his alcoholism and of his belief in Harvey.
i really liked this film but at the same time it really weirded me out. it could easily be argued that this film glorifies alcoholism. another thing that disturbed me was my mental film history timeline that's slowly developing. does anyone remember which film won Best Picture a few years prior to this that deals with the same topic? yes, it's The Lost Weekend (1946). probably one of my favorite Best Pictures, but it deals with the horrors of alcoholism. that made me feel almost offended by watching Harvey and its portrayal.
aside from that fact though, the film was splendid. i love the painting of Harvey and Elwood that he puts on the mantle. like i said it's just a heartwarming film taken as a whole. i'll get a copy and my kids will watch it over and over as they grow up. and then they'll be alcoholics.