Review of The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) by Blake P — 17 Aug 2011

"The Best Years of Our Lives" has now become one of my favorite movies. The plot is simple: three war heroes (March, Andrews, and Russell) come back to their small town and get used to getting back to their families.

That's it. It might sound boring, and crazy for a three-hour movie, but god, director William Wyler somehow pulls it off effortlessly. Yes, the guy who made "The Little Foxes" and "Roman Holiday".

And what's shocking, is this movie is even better than both of them. War was not really a topic discussed a lot because of all the pain still going on, but this movie is not negative or heartbreaking at all.

In fact, it's very uplifting, and really puts you in a way better mood than a Betty Grable musical can. This was quite the big deal in 1946, and actually today is in the top 100 list of movies that grossed the highest of all time.

It's so easy to see why. Though being about three hours long, not a moment is wasted at all. This is an endearing movie that really changes the way you look at war. The actors pull off their parts tremendously.

Unlike many movies, you care about each and every character (except Virginia Mayo's) until the end, and the way you look at them and their stories does not ever change. The most of this goes to Harold Russell's character.

He actually was a veteran, and yes, those hooks really belong to him. He did get his arms blown off, and though not a professional actor, it is almost as if he is playing himself. He is one out of two non-professional actors to win an Oscar, and he truly deserves it.

Never has such a small part ever seemed so big. I almost want to say the reason to see this movie is because of him, but everyone else is just so good it's almost impossible not to do so. This is one of the best movies ever made! "The Best Years of Our Lives" is one of The Best Movies of My Life.

Cheesy, huh?