Review of It's a Wonderful Life (1946) by Ben L — 06 Apr 2015

The tale of George Bailey is one of the most timeless stories I've ever seen in a Christmas film. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that it takes place around Christmas and Jimmy Stewart goes running through the streets shouting "Merry Christmas" It's a Wonderful Life could easily break free from the shackles of holiday programming. This is because the story of frustration with the realities of life is so universal. Who hasn't looked back on the dreams of their childhood and regretted how little progress they made? The wonderful thing is the lesson that this film is able to teach to all of us, without getting too preachy. Instead of sitting George down to tell him to count his blessings, Clarence simply takes away all those blessings and helps him to realize how much he really had in the first place. It's a brilliant method of attaining character growth and has been copied countless times because it is so ingenious. I also like the slow build to the story. We are given a long history of George's life, but not through narration or exposition, but through a series of vignettes that show us why his life turned out this way. I really can't make any complaints about the structure of the film because I think it is executed quite well, and leads to some great emotional scenes.

The cast is also out of this world. Jimmy Stewart is the perfect every man and it is easy to root for him, but he nails the darker moments for the character as well. Donna Reed is ideal as the woman in George's life because she clearly understands everything that's going on as well (if not better) than George does. Her quiet love and support is exactly the grounding this movie needs to make George's revelation realistic. And the final cast member that must be mentioned is the amazing Lionel Barrymore. His performance as the villainous, heartless, evil Mr. Potter is absolutely transcendent. He is so perfectly vile that you can see the motivation that drives George to pass up his dreams in order to defy this wicked man. In total, it's really hard to criticize anything about It's a Wonderful Life. However, it does have some flaws. At times I feel that the story can drag a little. I'm certainly engaged throughout, but there are moments when I start to think "Alright we get it, they're in love, let's move on." I also think they made a few odd choices, for instance in giving Uncle Billy this crow. It's like they needed some strange quirk to make it clear Billy wasn't entirely normal, and instead of relying on Thomas Mitchell's performance they throw in a bird. These are minor quibbles in what is a truly delightful film. While I do tend to only watch it around the holidays, it is a tale that has stood the test of time, and one that I think everyone should see.