It’s a Wonderful Life

I know, I know. It’s not a “modern” movie. But in the spirit of the holiday season, I thought my first ever viewing of this classic film warranted a writeup.

It’s a Wonderful Life is an all time classic that I’m sure I’ll revisit most (if not all) holiday seasons. How I have gone two and a half decades without seeing this masterpiece, I will never understand. However, I’m glad to have corrected this error.

I’m not sure how much there is to say about this film that hasn’t already been said a thousand times. Everything from the acting to the set design is perfect. Frank Capra’s directing is on point and the script is magnificent. Maybe they could’ve spent more time in the dreamworld at the end? I’m not going to nitpick.

James Stewart as George Bailey is one of the most perfectly cast roles of all time. An everyman with a heart of gold, eventually pushed to his limits by life and work. He is that character completely. You never doubt him or think he is anything other than what he is. This performance should be studied by actors and writers alike.

A major takeaway I’ve had in this past year or so is that older movies (everything from around 1920-1950) are awesome and I need to watch a lot more of them. In addition to this film, this year I also watched most of the Universal Monsters films – my favorites being Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein. I also expanded my Chaplin knowledge by watching City Lights, another amazing film. The film Cat People surprised me as well, taking a ridiculous premise and executing it quite well. There’s a lot of gems from this time period, and I can’t wait to keep exploring it next year.