This blog entry is part of my "movie year countdown round #2". Read more about that here.
The Philadelphia Story
Oh man what a disappointment. I've seen this film on too many lists of classics to ignore it. But I can't share the sentiments of these list makers in this case. This is my first Katherine Hepburn movie, and her uptight character was unfortunately what I had stereotyped her as from what little I'd seen of her in other contexts. Cary Grant seemed strange and snooty too. And Jimmy Stewart just failed to stand out the way I have come to expect from him. No one else is worth mentioning either.
I will admit that a main issue here may be my aversion towards these kinds of upper class marriage and divorce comedies. At least ones that assumes the audience has a real interest in the selfish lives of these people rather than poking fun of them. I just have no empathy for their situation when the film assumes I do. I guess that's the problem. That, and the fact that I had no idea what was going on for quite a bit of the early part of the movie. I'm not sure if I ever really did understand everything that was going on, but I had little incentive to try too hard after I had seen enough of the movie that I was losing hope for the level of enjoyment I had anticipated.
Maybe I was just in the wrong mood too. That can happen right? Or maybe I just don't need excuses not to like a movie that so many other people do.
Rating: 4/10