‘Jimmy’ Review: A Blandly Patriotic James Stewart Biopic

As one of Hollywood’s staunchest Republicans, the late James Stewart perhaps wouldn’t be rolling in his grave in response to “Jimmy,” a biopic that — in focusing rather less on his artistry than on his military service — paints him in a glowingly conservative light. But either way, he deserves better than this hokey, superficial portrait, which lives up to the popular conception of Stewart as an all-American mensch and everyman hero, while finding precious little of interest to actually say about him, either as a human or as an icon. It’s buoyed by “Riverdale” star KJ Apa‘s enthusiastic but thin portrayal, which mostly captures the star’s signature drawl and aw-shucks persona — but, like the film itself, grants him only a sentimental semblance of a soul.