It's a Wonderful Life

I watched a movie called It’s a Wonderful Life, directed by Frank Capra, released in 1946. It stars James Stewart, Donna Reed, Henry Travers and Lionel Barrymore. It is a story of a man, George Bailey, played by James Stewart, who gives up his own life to help out others but when things get to be too much, he contemplates suicide on Christmas Eve. He is being watched by a guardian angel, Clarence, played by Henry Travers that saves George’s life but ultimately shows him what the world would be life if he were never born, as per George’s pleading. It is a movie that has been parodied a lot since release and has been a staple of Christmas since falling into public domain, some TV stations showing all day marathons. This movie has a lot of different opinions about how terrifiying it can be or how cool it can be. I personally find it to be an interesting movie because there have been times when some of us have wondered what the world would be like if we hadn’t been born. Think about all the lives that weren’t touched (or in George’s case saved) by not being there. Showing an alternative to even the small town of Bedford Falls, where the story takes place when George exists versus the Pottersville that George doesn’t exist in, shows how much one person can make a difference. I will admit that it does have a dramatic flair and there are some comedic bits in it but overall it is very dramatic. I mean, the main character wants to commit suicide, quite unheard of in 1946 and in a “Christmas” movie, no less. Then again, it just brings a kind of reality to the seasonal affective disorder or how things generally get around Christmas time, which I feel like should be applauded because this ultimately is an uplifting movie if you stick with it.
The acting is superb. Jimmy Stewart is really on point here as being the sympathetic George Bailey and how sensitive he is to other people and how he wants only to make their lives better. Donna Reed is amazing as well as his wife, again being very sympathetic a character and believable as someone that George would fall in love with because she is smart and beautiful. Lionel Barrymore is the absolute worst person in the movie as Mr Potter, George’s boss and the main banker in the movie. Henry Travers is great as Clarence because he plays it very unassuming and generally big hearted, not really overacting at all or diminishing any of his scenes.
Overall, this is a Christmas classic and for good reason. It has many of the ups and down of a Frank Capra movie and it engages the audience just enough to get you hooked. It might also make you think about our own life and how much you matter or at least matter to someone else. This is important because that is also the power of movies.