Yankee Doodle Dandy, 1942

A likable film thats not so much a biopic as it is a lovefest for the career of song-and-dance man George M. Cohan. The musical numbers are great and Cagney never gave a more energetic performance in his life, but dont expect to see any real drama or conflict in this film. The story never tries to explore the dark side of Cohan (the man didnt take criticism well and made quite a few enemies in his career) or any real hardships he had to overcome. If it had, he may have seemed a bit more interesting, more human. Instead, as one might expect from a musical, a genre not known for depth and character development, the film focuses on how Cohan came up with one hit patriotic song after another. This was done most likely because a) the real Cohan was still alive at the time of release and b) America was currently fighting WWII and needed films to inspire the public a la Cohan's own WWI anthem 'Over There'. There's nothing wrong with that, I suppose, except that the film's ultra-patriotic tone loses some of its relevance and appeal to the more cynical and war-weary audiences of today. Or maybe it's just me.

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