My Movie Review on It's a Wonderful Life
Merry Christmas, my good friends.
This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
And today, to celebrate Christmas Eve, I'm gonna give you guys my 95th film review and 14th "Christmas Craze" installment by reviewing "It's a Wonderful Life".
Here's the summary of it:
George Bailey is a man who gives up his life's dreams for the needs of others in his community. And he is loved by just about everyone around him.
However, when a life-changing tragedy strikes, and his problems come at him all at once, George decides to end it all by committing suicide, believing that the world is better off without him.
But, before he can, an angel by the name of Clarence interferes and shows George that the world really isn't better without him in it. He decides that a surefire way to show George he isn't worthless...is by showing him a world in which he was never born.
Will George be able to see? Or not?
Having seen this film once a year every Christmas season, I literally couldn't resist reviewing it. And with good reason:
THIS PICTURE IS PHENOMENAL!!!
Even though I hadn't seen this movie for the first time, I just couldn't seem to stop finding how surprisingly awesome it is.
The direction by Frank Capra, and the screenplay by Capra, Frances Goodrich, and Albert Hackett, were all amazing. Capra definitely went all-out on making this film a masterpiece, because throughout...I sensed his passionate creativity was all over the place. He created a film that was soul-tugging and emotional, and there was genuinely hilarious humor that managed to hit the funny bone with a bullseye.
The performances of the cast, casting, characters, and character development were incredible too. I love how passionate and committed everyone appeared to be for their characters, and the amount of personality and emotion they gave them. There was likewise an incredible sense of improvisation amongst the cast as well.
James Stewart, I'd like to say, was born for the role of George Bailey. I literally don't think anyone but him would've fit the part, because he portrayed George to where his name could very well be synonymous to the character, and where his character's personality perfectly matched his own. The character development of George Bailey was perhaps the most remarkable in film history.
Finally, the music by Dimitri Tiomkin was truly magical. He clearly put his heart and soul into composing for this film, because it was strong enough to beautifully reflect the emotions of the characters and of the film itself.
I'd also like to add that I love how inclusive the film was of Jesus and how much we truly need him. As a matter of fact, to me, the good life that George was leading himself and everyone else into showed a clear picture of what a life with Jesus is like, while the world where George wasn't born illustrated what a life without Jesus is like.
George's moments of conflict reflected a person who suddenly doubted God's existence, until finally...he hardly found worth in himself. And Mr. Potter...well, he gave perhaps one of the most accurate representations of atheists and what life as one is like.
In conclusion, "It's a Wonderful Life" is one of the most accomplished films in history, and perhaps the best Christmas film of all. It's easily worthy of being called a classic, that's for sure.
So, I rate "It's a Wonderful Life" solid five out of five stars.
