Magic Town (Reviewed on Jan. 30/99)
Starring Jimmy Stewart, Jane Wyman
In "Magic Town", Jimmy Stewart is in peak form playing a pollster who heads to a "perfect" town to gauge their reactions on the sorts of issues that only poll-takers care about. However, as time progresses, and he finds himself falling in love with the town (and a woman), he begins to see that what he's doing is wrong.
The plot is standard stuff, but that's not important. In a film like this, it's the calibre of the actors that make or break it. Obviously, since Stewart stars, that's practically a non-issue. He's great in the film, as usual. There's just something about him that always manages to be endearing, even when he's deceiving the town folk. You're always on his side, and you desperately want to see all of his goals come to fruitition.
The film was directed by a longtime Frank Capra script-writer, and it shows. This is the type of feel-good picture that Capra is famous for. By the time "The End" shows up on screen, everything has been wrapped up very nicely. There are no loose ends, and virtually every character gets a happy ending (those that deserve one, anyway). In this age of cynicism, it's refreshing to see a movie so upbeat.
"Magic Town" is a delightfully entertaining motion picture. If you believe all old movies are slow-paced, you'd be well-advised to check this one out.
***1/2 out of ****
David Nusair dnusair@chat.carleton.ca
:"Yesterday, the last professional hockey player to play without a helmet : ; announced he's retiring. His actual words were, `I no play hockey never ; : more.'" -Conan O'Brien :
Dept. of Good Vibes, Come visit my Reel Film Reviews site Carleton University at "http://chat.carleton.ca/~dnusair"
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