Harvey

Nice Guy

Harvey is a movie built around a nice guy. This is not some half-nice guy like Mark Wahlberg's hitman in Big Hit or Jackie Chan's supposedly nice chef in Mr. Nice Guy. This is Jimmy Stewart at his most charming. If there happens to be an invisible six-foot- and-change rabbit next to him, so be it, he's still a really nice guy. The sister attempting to have him committed and the rest home staff attempting to cover their collective behind are wonderful when weighed against Stewart's anchor. Most of the characters are painted in strokes that would today be considered broad. Were people really like that then, or only in the movies? Either way, it's an amusing point in time to visit, even if I wouldn't want to live there.

The non-Stewart performers are great fun, even if only because they are the types of characters that more recently have been made fun of in The Hudsucker Proxy. Jesse White as Marvin the easily-ired orderly and Clem Bevans as Herman Schimmelplusser, the proud gatekeeper, particularly fit the bill on that point. Josephine Hull's overblown performance as the sister is a definite treat, and was rewarded with big awards.