So this is the next up on the AFI list. I had watched this back in aught-four and remembered liking it a great deal then. Weirdly, like half my memories of it are wrong, and then also I just flat-out forgot most of the plot entirely, but I still agree with the overall conclusion — this is one of the rare good movies on the AFI list.

(As an aside, we watched this on a Criterion Blu-ray, which is apparently a recent (2017) restoration from a 4K scan, and looks great. I was wondering what the source was for the version I watched, but of course in 2004, it wasn’t a Blu-ray at all, it was a DVD. Heck, I’d barely even just gotten my first CRT HDTV at that point. Huh.)

So anyway, this is a movie where Katharine Hepburn is engaged to a man who’s a real Nice Guy, and her not-over-her ex Cary Grant tries to break up the engagement by getting the gossip press (in the form of Jimmy Stewart and his photographer partner/quasi-girlfriend) to throw a wrench into things, and many wrenches are thrown, and the ending is one of those wild olde-timey things where literally she might decide to marry any of three people on the spur of the moment, even though no-fault divorce isn’t legal yet. People in old movies are at all times in full yolo mode when it comes to getting married.

The movie has witty dialogue and fun character notes (the little-kid sister is a particular treat beyond the Big Three) that would propel it past a lot of faults, but then also the fun characters are mostly backed up by the depth of real people (the photographer in particular seems like she could support her own movie) and there’s a real emotional arc for the characters, and recognizable human messiness to the whole thing.

There’s an unfortunate bit of domestic violence upfront, which the movie breezes past with too much olde-timey disregard, but beyond that, it’s an absolute winner. Highly recommended.