HARVEY (1950) **1/2 They have these aging debutante tea parties for crusty old ladies to gently insult each other in the drawing room, and think Jimmy Stewart's crazy for preferring to barhop with a giant imaginary rabbit. The metaphors are projected devoutly, if telegraphed, and the execution misses out on a lot of the funniest bits, and most of the magic, of being drunk. Jimmy's soliloquy on bars, in the alley, is a captivating thing of beauty and truth, but it's sad that he didn't have a cocktail to wave around throughout. Now, that might have been distracting, but also authentic. Magic isn't harnessed by formula or word count, it's in extending milieu and rapport. Fact of the matter is that I don't think that Mary Chase was really even thinking about drinking much when she wrote it. She just used drinking as shorthand for any various strain of wild and pleasant irrationality, and maybe a white rabbit to symbolize unseen, but perceived, spiritual entities of a particularly distinct and personal nature. Either way, it's fun, but very composed considering the message.
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