Inspirational biopic Jimmy, opening in theaters Nov. 6, depicts how Hollywood star Jimmy Stewart became a World War II bomber pilot, then struggled after returning home. It aims high in honoring God and country, much like its title character.
Stewart fans will appreciate KJ Apa (Riverdale, I Still Believe), who captures Jimmy's cornball, gee-whiz sincerity alongside an introspective side without merely impersonating him.
Yet major elements are invented, notably Jimmy’s love interest who occupies much of the film.
Director Aaron Burns (Legacy Peak) defended that choice in an interview (interview video below).
“You can line up a bunch of facts and wind up with something that’s not actually true,” Burns said. “Or you can line up a bunch of things that are actually fiction and arrive at something that is actually true.”
The quasi-historical, two-hour film, with a reported $15 million budget, was shot mostly in Ireland, combining practical effects and digital techniques.
Its three-act story will resonate with many, particularly when Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life becomes a catalyst for postwar healing. But its inspirational message often feels prepackaged.
Families with preteens may find little objectionable, although wartime violence, some bloody scenes, and blunt dialogue about men “dying, screaming, falling from planes” could trouble younger children.
The story opens in 1941, following Stewart's Oscar win for The Philadelphia Story. Jason Alexander of Seinfeld fame hams it up as MGM chief Louis B. Mayer, with an old-timey shtick that entertains.
When Stewart receives a draft notice, Mayer makes it “disappear,” sparking accusations of draft-dodging. Jimmy retreats to rural Pennsylvania, where his father, played by Neal McDonough (Band of Brothers), challenges him.
Those father-son scenes are among the film's strongest. Dad warns Jimmy he cannot be what he isn't; Jimmy takes it as a challenge. After conferring with director Frank Capra (Max Casella), he fights to serve.
Initially, like Captain America, his military assignment is promotional. Eventually Stewart reaches the European front, commanding the 703rd Bomb Squadron from Tibenham, England, and flying perilous missions over Nazi-occupied Europe.
The aerial spectacle recalls the miniseries Masters of the Air, on a smaller scale. Burns purchased a 1952 Royal Air Force Pembroke aircraft, split it, modified the cockpit, and mounted it on a gimbal about 20 feet high.
The actors endured simulated dives, flak, smoke, and flames against blue screens. “We did it outside so we could get natural sunlight and it would feel believable,” Burns explained.
The results are largely convincing — at times, more so than the interpersonal drama.
Much of the middle hour follows Stewart's deployment. Teased about his stardom and alienated from younger servicemen, Jimmy meets Lady Julia (Kara Killmer). Action scenes alternate with visits to her estate, where he plays piano and they walk among castle ruins.
“Let’s talk only about normal things, decent things,” he tells her.
We learn of Julia's less-than-honorable husband. Jimmy rejects her calling him a hero. Their relationship becomes central to the story's emotional journey — yet Julia isn't a historical person.
Burns said a biography briefly mentioned a British duchess who befriended Stewart near Tibenham. The biographer speculated that Stewart, isolated by fame and age, might have confided in her.
“We took that little historical tidbit and then we ran with it,” Burns said, describing Julia as “almost a window into Jimmy's soul, into his traumas and struggles.”
Burns and screenwriter Justin Strawhand also drew on a wartime diary shared by Stewart's daughter, Kelly Stewart Harcourt, an executive producer on this film. She found it in his nightstand after his death, Burns said.
Yet Stewart’s 27-year military career is more compelling than an invented romance, which pushes Jimmy toward formulaic storytelling. Burns produced the Kendrick brothers' preachy Overcomer, and that sermon-like approach resurfaces here, imposing tidy lessons rather than letting contradictions breathe.
To its credit, Jimmy develops thoughtful questions about identity. Stewart struggles to understand himself as a son and actor. As an officer, his speeches send men into deadly combat.
“Would a good man use his gifts to lie?” Apa's Stewart asks.
The finale races to recreate Stewart's Guideposts account of making It's a Wonderful Life, with dialogue between Jimmy and Capra lifted verbatim from that article. Capra, a Catholic, makes the sign of the cross; Stewart's Presbyterian faith also figures into the story.
Despite the Christmas film's fanciful theology about angels earning wings, Burns said Capra captured “God's love for every individual, and the hope that all of us can have when we cry out to God in prayer.”
Stewart's connection to faith-oriented storytelling extends to this publication: In 1947, he narrated the first broadcast of Venerable Patrick Peyton's Family Theater Productions, which produced 540 radio dramas, including literary adaptations.
Today, Family Theater Productions produces films, television, and digital media and publishes reviews (like this one).
The film’s admiration for Stewart and military service is unmistakable. Burns said his goal was making Jimmy feel like a final collaboration between Stewart and Capra.
Yet admiration and painstaking reconstruction are not the same as compelling drama.
Even after many Christmas visits to Bedford Falls, I found the biopic’s climactic spiritual breakthrough emotionally unearned. The script tells us where Stewart’s pain must lead before fully allowing us to feel its weight.
What keeps audiences returning to Stewart's 80 films is their ability to surprise — whether in a war story, mystery, or inspirational slice of life. Jimmy is often moving, funny, and handsomely staged, with a fine lead performance. But its too-neat storytelling keeps it from approaching those classics.
Rated PG-13 for war violence, bloody images, thematic elements, and smoking, ‘Jimmy’ opens in theaters nationwide on Nov. 6.
Here's my chat with director Aaron Burns:
Image: Fathom Entertainment
Freelance journalist Josh Shepherd writes on faith and culture for several media outlets. He and his family live in central Florida.
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