So lame and out of date

It was nominated in part precisely because it WAS very much of its time, approaching the civil rights movement and racism in an understated way, rather than as a polemic. As such, it's a wonderful time capsule of that period, not unlike Route 66 -- I could easily see Tod & Buz crossing paths with Homer Smith during their travels. I was a boy back then, and it really does capture the shifting mood of the country at the time.

Personally, I find it to be a charming, heartfelt little film that's still quite funny & moving. Just a matter of personal taste, of course; I can see how some have found it too sentimental, and that's an honest reaction, too. But there are some great lines in there, funny & poignant at once, e.g., at the big fiesta at the end, Smith is called a gringo by his Mexican work crew, and he laughs, "Gringo? I don't know if that's a step up or a step down from some other things I've been called!" When it addresses racism, it does so through that sort of humor, with the seriousness inside of the laugh.

I think the film works because in dealing with those larger issues, it focuses on that one person, someone we get to know & like as a man. And that in itself was an important statement at the time. Race does figure in the story, but the emphasis in the end is on the common humanity of all the characters. Everyone has grown a little more by the time the credits roll.

It's a great movie.

"out of date"? It was made in 1963, so it looks and sounds like 1963, which makes it perfectly in-date. It was not intended to reflect 2019 style or attitudes.