Mr. Smith
Goes to Washington (****)
review by Jon
Waterman
After a senator’s untimely death, certain politicos
are left in the lurch. They need to find someone who will vote
for their potentially controversial bill. Their best bet lies
within a naïve man by the name of Jefferson Smith. Smith
is head of the Boy Rangers and his popularity amongst kids
and parents is soaring. Also, his father was friends with one
of the senators behind the bill, Joseph Paine. Surely this
man will sit back quietly and do whatever he’s told until
the next election. And it looks like that will happen until
Smith introduces a bill of his own that would contradict the
one Paine brought him in to pass. Mr. Smith soon finds himself
in great conflict with a family friend and his own ideals.
Who would have ever thought a filibuster could be so entertaining?
You don’t have to be interested in politics to enjoy
this incredible touching, funny and extremely inspirational
film. The movie isn’t really about politics anyway. It
deals with the simple eternal battle between good and evil.
More precisely it deals with the struggle of man versus boy,
both literally and figuratively. The children try to rally
up support for their candidate Jefferson Smith against the
stogy old politicians. Things get more intense later as parallels
are drawn between Smith’s hometown and his showdown on
the Senate floor. On one hand, you have the fight between the
little kids trying to disburse their newspaper and the destructive
bullying adults attempting to peddle their position. On the
other, there’s Smith himself, the young know-nothing
who takes cues from his assistant Clarissa Saunders attempting
a filibuster against the greatest of odds and immense political
power and deep-seeded connections.
James Stewart (“You Can’t Take It with You”)
plays the innocent well with his wide-eyed baby face. You can’t
help but laugh as he wanders off upon arriving at Washington
to go on an impromptu sight-seeing trip. You can’t help
but relate with him as he fumbles with his hat while talking
to the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen. And you can’t
help but admire the skill and savvy of director Frank Capra
(“It Happened One Night”) and screenwriter Sidney
Buchman (“Holiday”) for recognizing that behind
every joke lies an opportunity for the character to grow and
to really capture the audience. The also recognize that just
because the overriding theme is simple, that doesn’t
mean that the execution can’t be detailed, nuanced and
exciting. A large part as to why this movie is so effective
is that the characters are given good back stories and their
personas naturally progress, which means that it’s okay
for the lead role to be a little goofy, because once you’re
done laughing, you begin respecting and eventually aspiring.
The film moves quickly and gets out right after the job is
done. I applaud the lack of a real love story. Certainly one
is implied and you can guess where things might go from the
end of the picture, but there’s something to be said
about it not being said. You’ll be hard pressed to find
a more charming lovable actor than James Stewart and there
couldn’t be a better fit to this role. This is an awe-inspiring
example of cinema at its greatest.
respond to jon@filmbrats.com
|