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It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Frank Capra
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Main Players: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore.
Story: A really nice guy plans suicide and we are told why; and what would happen if he succeeds.
Comment: It's a wonderful film. This is one film in the list of unrated films which exceeded all my expectations. Sure, I heard a lot about it before I actually saw it and I was prepared for a letdown, something like the Star Wars trilogy; but this movie deserves its place as a holiday classic. Perhaps it is this very honour which actually detracts us from the superb craftsmanship of Capra.
The story is told at a moderate pace, never rushed nor lumbering. We are slowly made to like, and we genuinely like the suffering hero. Perhaps he is actually what all of us aspires to be: Decent. The movies today seem to require that the hero, or protagonist, if you like, be saddled with some serious personal issues in order to flesh out his humanity ... or, if it's a sci-fi or action flick, then it's either the perfect hero or the aforementioned type. The decent hero of the old movies seem artificial today.
But Stewart excels at playing the decent hero. We, the audience, genuinely BELIEVE that he is good. This, to me, is the key to this film's appeal. We actually CONNECT with the hero. We WANT him to be real; or, we'd like to meet someone like him once in a while. The fact that many of us see it over and over again must tell us something about who we really are, under all that modern cynicism.
Under the direction of Capra, the movie seems to be inspired. Each character is given time to develop, to tell us something about what they are like, how they live, and, we end up feeling as if we really know them. This is one feel good movie, other than Babe, which you will return to many times.
Review: Watch it. You won't be disappointed.
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