Okay, get the groaning over with...
This movie is that good.
It's A Wonderful Life is the little movie that could... considered a failure at the box office when it was released, it received a new life with the advent of syndicated showings on television through the years where it became a family favorite.
Personally, I don't think I had ever truly seen it until the last decade.
And then I was hooked.
The story in case you've never seen it:
George Bailey grows up in the small town of Bedford Falls, but he dreams of something bigger. Just when he thinks he'll get away, fate steps in and forces his hand to run the family business. Of course life isn't so bad, he has a beautiful family, and everyone in town likes him well enough. But then there's Mr. Potter, the owner of the bank who wants to put Bailey out of business. When fate once again intervenes to throw George a devastating curve... he wonders if everyone would have simply been better off if George Bailey had never been born.
Through the intervention of a guardian angel named Clarence, George Bailey will get the chance to see what the world would have been like if one George Bailey had never been born. At the end, George will realize that no matter the ups and downs he's experienced, he truly has a very wonderful life.
James Stewart was an amazing actor. This could be considered his defining role, in a career that enjoyed many such star turns. He goes from the everyman that everyone knows and cares for, and in an instant, you see it all begin to slip away in despair.
It's a very dark turn for a holiday staple, but it's a turn that is needed.
By George Bailey, and really, to anyone that watches the film.
The message is inherently clear... your life matters. You touch so many people and every action that you take sets off a chain reaction.
Who knows... you could consider this the first foray into time travel/alternate universe movies on top of everything else.
If you were forced to watch it as a kid and walked away hating it... revisit the film with adult eyes and see what's being shown to you. If it's been a few years, break it out during the holiday season, or maybe anytime BUT the holidays to avoid the cliche.
It's that good.
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