Harvey




Well, I've wrestled with reality for thirty-five years, Doctor, and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it.

What's a sure sign someone is crazy? They believe in an invisible, six-foot rabbit. That is unless other people happen to say they also can see this invisible, six-foot rabbit.

Well, Mr. Elwood P. Dowd (James Stewart) is that man who sees that invisible, six-foot rabbit, who's called Harvey (himself). Dowd is a mercilessly polite and gentle man, but as of late, his antics have been causing some stress for his family living with him, especially his sister Veta (Josephine Hull). Tired of having no social life because of Elwood and Harvey, Veta finally gathers up the courage to try and have her brother committed to an asylum.

Based off the hit play, Harvey the movie is a lot like Dowd the character. It's soft, occasionally filled with humor (though that's mostly towards the beginning) and occasionally filled with reflective insight. Most of it is merely hinted at, but some of Dowd's past is also revealed through the course of the story. After losing his mother, it seems that he made the choice to either be "oh so smart, or oh so pleasant." He evidently chose the latter. Dowd and the story represents a rejection of reality and all of its bitter truths, for the simple fact that it doesn't have to be that way. While Dowd's a little weird (with or without Harvey), he and Harvey are truly able to help people, who are usually in less fortunate circumstances. It's this kind of heart that makes Harvey worth watching, even if it's not a perfect film. As said before, the humor does thin out considerably, for no good apparent reason. It's certainly proven early on that there's plenty of potential for laughs with this kind of concept. There's also the problem that the story has with its characters. While Elwood does his best to give everyone a happy ending, some of the results are just weak because of what the characters were like for the majority of the movie. Still, it all shapes into something that's never exactly special, but is always mostly enjoyable.

Stewart doesn't really have a lot of room to stretch his mad acting skills here. He's a perfect fit as Dowd, though he's admittedly a one-note character. The only other character really worth mentioning is Veta, played with utmost urgency by Josephine Hull, which earned her an Oscar. Even though she spends most of the movie attempting to commit her brother, it's not too hard to at least sympathize with her and her unpleasant situation. The rest of the cast remains mostly one-dimensional enough to just fill their parts. Although, definitely worthy of mention is Peggy Dow, who doesn't exactly give a dazzling performance, but is dazzling anywhere, in and of herself.

Quaint yes, but there's enough appeal to nearly last the whole movie. The valuable moral of being satisfied with one's lot in life, along with a few others, is also to be noted.



-The Gnome