Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (May 22, 2024)
1956’s Friendly Persuasion comes with the tagline “It Will Pleasure You In a Hundred Ways!” Combine that with its title and one would expect some kind of porn movie, not a tale of family and conflict set during the Civil War.
Set in Indiana circa 1862. We meet the Birdwell family: Jess (Gary Cooper), wife Eliza (Dorothy McGuire) and kids Joshua (Anthony Perkins), Mattie (Phyllis Love) and Little Jess (Richard Eyer).
As Quakers, they remain pacifists. However, when Confederate troops cause trouble in their area, Jess and the rest find their resolve tested.
Persuasion filmmaker William Wyler enjoyed a terrific 1950s, with Best Director nominations for four of his seven movies. Three of those flicks also earned Best Picture nods as well, with a win for 1959’s Ben-Hur.
Persuasion became one of those double honorees, with four additional nominations as well. It took home zero trophies, but it still received ample praise.
I don’t know if Persuasion really deserved all that Oscar love, mainly because it mostly offers a fairly frothy little confection. Despite the drama my synopsis implies, the flick spends surprisingly little time preoccupied with the impact of the Civil War.
Oh, we get hints and allusions. However, the Birdwells don’t confront the impending Confederate presence until about 96 minutes into the film.
For the movie’s first two acts, we essentially get a long look at the Birdwells, with an emphasis on the nature of the Quaker society. Persuasion can feel like a precursor to 1985’s Witness, as the latter devoted large chunks of time to an exploration of Amish life.
In both films, we see the tension between those who prefer to live a particular way and the more modern world. However, Witness used that concept to advance the plot, whereas with Persuasion, we get a film largely devoid of a formal narrative.
Yes, it pursues some themes, and it builds to the aforementioned issues when the Confederates finally arrive. Nonetheless, most of the movie just follow the Birdwells through their various antics and shenanigans.
Although this can make Persuasion feel aimless, it entertains too much for me to really mind. And I get the basic purpose: to paint the Birdwells as people before the Confederates formally threaten them.
I think Persuasion could’ve balanced those sides better than it does, mainly because we spend so much time with all that “Getting to Know the Birdwells” content. Again, much of this seems enjoyable, but I also feel the film takes too long to get to the real conflict.
Still, Persuasion keeps us with it despite its lack of plot, and a good cast helps. I admit I never loved Cooper as an actor, mainly because his lack of range restricts his usefulness beyond particular roles.
Though Jess doesn’t force Cooper to expand his horizons much, he proves unusually nimble and charming here. Don’t expect him to actually resemble a fully-dimensional human being, but Cooper nonetheless offers a better than average performance that helps ground the film.
All of this leaves Persuasion as less substantial than I might prefer, but it still connects. A mix of comedy and drama, the movie keeps us with it.