Review of It's a Wonderful Life (1946) by Shane S — 16 Jun 2016

It's a Wonderful Life is not particularly complex, deep or stylistically marvelous. None of that is a criticism of the film it is, in fact, the very reason why this movie is so brilliant.

I struggled for sometime to write a review of this film. I tried to pick apart the elements and pieces of the movie to find why it worked, and it does, but could never really place why. I started by assessed some of the usual parts of a film.

Is the filmography great, fantastic or memorable? Not particularly, but it is certainly strong in a number of places. Usage of shadowing for mood changes and to emphasize the nature of the characters is tastefully done. I will add, please watch the black and white original, the color version does not do this movie justice and many elements are lost.

Acting is the next major area to investigate. The answer again, strong, and well tailored to the film, but not stand out. James Stewart did a good job, but I would not rave about it. The setting is all solid, apple pie america, but not provocative or engrossing. Mr Potter, a passable villain.

The mystery remained though. I cannot help but describe this film as anything other than a simply great movie. I think, perhaps, the simplicity is indeed the magic of this film. The message is profound, albeit sort of obvious, that what really matters is love and humanity for one another. The trick is in telling this sort of tale without resort to cheap ploys or weak story telling.

It struck me that this is a truly accessible film in every way. The film has a quality of production, but it is not too flashy. There is a whimsical childlike approach to all of it, but it is not a kids movie. The love story is innocent and light, but not cheap or hallow. The villain is unlikable, but not a focal study in evil. Its not so much that you want to believe in the film's message to embrace idealism in a grand gesture, but you instead feel that warm sense of humanity for just a little bit. Given the subject of the film, that might be all that is really possible with this theme.

Maybe it is fitting that such a universal message is so well captured in such a universally accessible movie.