In the history of the movie industry, Jimmy Stewart (1908-1997) is arguably the most beloved and respected lead actor of all time. From his 80 films to his popular appearances on The Johnny Carson Show and his poetry readings, there is no doubt Jimmy Stewart was the most likable movie actor of all time. At the peak of Stewart’s fame, after winning an Academy Award, Stewart insisted on serving his country, facing the high probability of death and leaving behind a very lucrative movie career.

Jimmy Stewart flew twenty highly dangerous bombing missions over Germany during World War II and one more over Vietnam in 1966. Stewart retired from the Air Force in 1968 with the rank of Brigadier General.

The new movie “Jimmy” is mostly about Jimmy Stewart’s career in the Air Force during World War II, with additional stories about his love life and his return to Hollywood after the war, when he no longer had an acting career. What saved Jimmy Stewart’s career in Hollywood was his personal favorite movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, which was released in 1946, written and directed by Frank Capra.

The actor who played Jimmy Stewart is KJ Apa, with actor Max Casella as Frank Capra. Both were very good in their roles, with Apa closely mastering Stewart’s well-known and very often humorous way of talking. The best parts of this film were the many scenes of Stewart as the leader of his crew and how close the world was to losing Stewart during so many close calls during World War II. Imagine movies without Jimmy Stewart and “It’s a Wonderful Life”. The flaws in this movie are that there are too many moments where the story moves too slowly, with too many scenes that seem more like filler than necessary.

Probably due to the slow-moving parts of this film, the Rotten Tomatoes rating for this movie is a too-low 64%, with my rating a solid 75% and a recommendation to see this well-done biography of Jimmy Stewart.