This musical bio-pic about Broadway icon, George M. Cohan, is an interesting departure from the other films I've watched on the list so far. Now, this is the part where I willingly admit to not being the biggest fan of musicals so the notion of a musical about a man who was a catch-all creator of musicals instantly lowered the bar of my own expectations. Essentially, watching this is precisely why I took up this project: to make myself sit down and earnestly watch films, some of which I never would have done in the past, and to look at them as objectively as possible.
At the same time, I was always a pretty big fan of James Cagney so that made it easier and, honestly, he puts in one helluva performance all things considered. Also, while I think you could classify this movie as a musical it is also a very strong biographical look at the subject. Often times, it does this with such a deft touch that it proves quite enthralling. Walter Huston, Joan Leslie and Richard Whorf also turn in very strong performances.
Overall, I have to say I was very surprised how much I enjoyed this film. It occasionally made me think of the Howard Hughes bio-pic, the Aviator, though I do think that this film is much stronger without a doubt. It never loses sight of who the story is about and it refuses to sink into some of the more typical musical film traps which, in retrospect, shouldn't have been surprising considering the attempt to mimic Cohan's talking approach to much of the music.
One other thing I think should be noted is that we currently sit a few weeks away from the 2008 Presidential Election. Debates are ongoing and the time for the people to direct their own path nears. With that as a bit of the psycho/sociological back-drop, it causes the film to have an increased relevance.
So, yeah, 4 Broadway numbers out of 5.
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