Review of Genevieve (1953) by Davey M — 20 Apr 2009

What a lovely, lovely movie. Genial is the word to describe it. Genial. And amiable. Genial and amiable. Everything is pulled off with such unbelievable effortlessness, from the perfect screenplay to the perfect performances to the perfect direction to the perfect score.

There aren't a lot of romantic comedies about marriage, and when there are they're usually heavier--"Genevieve" is one of the most joyous romantic comedies ever, and instead of courtship it deals with something much more central to romance: conflict within marriage, and its resolution and reconciliation (in that way it's like Hawks' "Monkey Business," only infinitely more British, and probably even better, though both are great films).

There aren't a lot of belly laughs, but, in the tradition of the Ealing comedies (this isn't one, but it sure does feel like it much of the time) it's almost better for it--it's a movie that makes you smile and really feel something throughout almost all of its running time, and as the film and its titular character lurch towards the literal and figurative finish line, a movie I described as "amiable" manages also to be very thrilling.

There are a lot of admirable movies, but "Genevieve" is better than admirable--it's lovable.