Review of It's a Wonderful Life (1946) by Alvin Y — 29 May 2012

It's a Wonderful Life, Great Movies.

When I think of the words inspiring and memorable, this movie is the 1st that comes to my head. *It's a Wonderful Life* is truly one of the most inspiring, memorable, touching, funny, sad, exciting, and a great movie of all time. I don't mean the term * one of the...*, it's probably *the most...*. I can't think of any other films that made me so emotional like this ever. It's usually mistaken as a Christmas movie but for me it isn't. It's a seasonal film, you can watch it when you're sad, or just nothing I watch at all.

The movie stars James Stewart as George Bailey, as a man who wants to be the king of the world. But his life turns out to be what he didn't expect it to be. We see George from his childhood days to his present days, as a man whom everybody thinks as a hero but to him, feels unworthy. He got married and had kids, his brother got a medal of honor, and the villainous Mr. Potter wants to take the town and it's money. Now, having a despair and wasted life, he plans to jump on a bridge, but instead an *angel* saves him, and granted him a wish: *I wish I was never been born*. And there it was, nobody in the town knew George anymore, but he finally realizes how wonderful his life was when he's alive. Going to the last 5-10 minutes of the movie, it really made me cry like a girl when George finally gets back to the town and everyone knows him again, and singing *Auld Lang Syne*, and one of George's daughter said: *Teacher said, when a bell rings, and angel gets his wings*. Is that true? Well, that's probably what finishes up the whole picture, and George Bailey really has *a wonderful life*.

Now, I don't usually write long reviews like this one but let's finish this up. As I mentioned earlier, Stewart is magnificent as a man who may be or be not a true human to someone. His performance is nuance and charming that you never think of any Hollywood actor living today that has the same persona of Stewart. Frank Capra's direction is wholesome, if not, progressive. It's probably one of the movies that may need to watch over and over again for a traditional viewing or just watching with family that loves to cry so much. Many have rip-off and try achieve the film's magic is some movies like *The Family Man* and *Click*, but a failure. Anyways, I think this is one of the best movies ever made and one of my favorite movies of all time? Who would hate a movie like this?