Review of It's a Wonderful Life (1946) by Zack B — 27 Dec 2015

Once a year the family gathers around Christmas time and watches It's a Wonderful Life. This year's experience was somewhat different and it's hard for me if I should talk about the film that I considered my favorite for a long time, or the experience I had on Christmas.

This year, I didn't like this film as much. Then again it may be because of the mood I was in or how the rest of the family was reacting. Everyone was making noise and pulling phones out, and commentating. That just tells me that I probably can't watch films with other people. It ruins viewing experiences.

Other than that aside, I'll tell you what I've liked. Every year we watch It's a Wonderful Life I cry. I am not the "man's man." It feels pretty good to do so for me. This film is indeed beautiful, and that may be because of how damn likable George Bailey is. I'd like to think I model a certain friendliness or personality close to his (except when bitter). Even though he never gets to experience his original intentions to see the world, he still understands that people need him. He's a giver. Many people may say this film is too schmaltzy or unreal, but I think a film is doing something right for me when I am tearing up within the first five minutes.

This viewing experience quite frankly drained me a bit which is why it's been two days from seeing it to these thoughts. I may need to watch it alone to see if I'm affected differently.