Review of It's a Wonderful Life (1946) by Gavin P — 24 Jul 2016

A delightful film - a true feel-good story. It spans a decade or so and follows the life of George Bailey (Stewart, exceptional) and Mary (Reed, beautiful) and how George is such a good guy that he always puts his life on hold to help others - sacrifices going to college so his brother can go, sacrifices his honeymoon to save his business, sacrifices an amazing job opportunity to save the community he's helped create.

When something goes wrong and it looks like he'l have to go to jail, George is ready to throw it all away, until an 'angel' shows him what the town would be like if he'd never been born (definitely based on Dickens' "A Christmas Carol").

Realising what he'd been taking for granted, it goes to show you should be grateful for what you have and not always worried about the grass being greener on the other side - it rarely is. Touching and earnest, the ending is fantastic and the film is fast, fun and just plain nice throughout.

Sometimes, they truly don't make 'em like they used to!