Writer(s): Capra, Frances Goodrich, and Albert Hackett, from a story by Philip Van Doren Stern
Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, and Thomas Mitchell
How I had never seen Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life up
until now is a mystery that could puzzle even the world’s greatest
detective. Although my mom and I never
really watched a lot of Christmas movies together growing up, save for the old
Rudolph and Frosty animated television shorts, this one was by far her
favorite. So far, I’ve purchased it for
her twice in two separate Christmases—one way back when I was a teenager, on
VHS, and one just a few years ago, on DVD.
I suppose in another handful of years, I’ll probably be buying it for
her on whatever futuristic media lies beyond Blu-Ray (unless she eventually
latches onto that one). Yet I don’t
recall her ever inviting me to watch it with her, and I know for sure that I
never asked her to.
Adding to the mystery is how my wife—whose family still
reveres Christmas with the same childhood enthusiasm that unfortunately left me
as soon as I left childhood—had also gone the first 26 years of her life having
never watched it. It’s a film that has
come to signify the spirit and the meaning of Christmas, perhaps moreso than
any other, for millions of people worldwide.
With that in mind, we both set out to right our wrongs and vowed to make
this the year that we would finally sit down to a viewing.
You probably know the film’s plot by heart, but I still feel
the need to at least throw together a brief summary in the off chance you are
uninitiated: James Stewart plays George Bailey, a businessman who helps run a
loan company in the small town of Bedford Falls. Even from his younger days, he has always
planned to leave the town and travel around the world the first chance he got, but
the death of his father prevents that, and puts him at the head of The Bailey
Brothers’ Building and Loan.
Every movie needs a villain, and this one comes in the form
of Henry Potter, the richest man in town.
He runs a bank (and just about everything else around), and is used to
people falling at his feet; in George, he finds a rival, a man that refuses to
bow down to him and accept his greatness.
This frustrates him, and he is constantly plotting ways to either get
him on his side or, when that fails, permanently ruin his life.
In the span of one night, George becomes suicidal, which we
are alerted will happen at the beginning of the film. He’s about to jump off a bridge to kill himself, when a
man jumps in before him, so George jumps in to save him. Why George picked that bridge to jump off to
kill himself, knowing that the fall wasn’t far enough to kill him outright, is
a pretty glaring oversight, but whatever. Anyway, he saves the "man", who as it turns out is not a man at all, but an angel sent to save him! I will admit, I fell asleep right after this part, and woke up as he was
excited about life again, exclaiming “Merry Christmas” to every stranger he
bumps into on the street, in that ridiculously cheesy, over-the-top manner that
millions somehow find “endearing”.
Then it of course ends on a happy note, with George avoiding
bankruptcy and the townsfolk all banding together to pitch in enough money to
replace the 8,000 crucial dollars that he had lost (which Potter found and kept, in a further attempt to ruin George). It seems George’s generous life of giving has
finally turned around back on him! The
citizens of Bedford Falls all pour into his house, all offering him as much
money as they can afford, in that ridiculously cheesy, over-the-top manner that
millions find “charming”. Soon after,
the words “The End” appeared on screen, and I just felt a sudden burst of
happiness in my own life—is this why people find it so inspiring?
It’s a Wonderful Life feels like it was filmed in
real-time—it drags and drags on, all just to set up its twenty minute grand
finale that I fell asleep through. It’s
all competently made (even though it’s poorly edited, with several terrible
jump cuts; then again I don’t watch many old movies, and so it might be a part
of movies from that time period), but for a well-received comedy/drama, there
are very few laughs, and very little drama.
One thing I hate about old movies that prevents me from forcing myself
to sit through them, is the acting technique, in which people virtually yell as
loud as they can while striking a pose (a slight exaggeration, but nevertheless
a distant cousin to the acting of today).
Such technique is on full display here, and so none of the performances
really resonated with me—James Stewart’s actually felt the most exaggerated of
the bunch. But film scholars say it’s
good, so I guess it must be!
George’s transformation, from generous, good-natured man, to
suddenly suicidal, is just another aspect that feels completely artificial; the
way his luck abruptly changes would be more apt in a comedy movie, than one
actually attempting to toy with its viewer’s emotions. I get that his business was struggling for a
while, but watching him yell at his children, become an alcoholic, and
contemplate killing himself by jumping off the world’s shortest bridge, all
basically within a 24-hour span, was legendarily tacky. People really fall for this empty, forced
junk?
As with many Christmas films, and maybe even films in
general, I think a lot of warm feelings people get from certain movies, stems
from a sense of nostalgia. Many children
grow up watching the same films over and over, beginning from early childhood,
and there isn’t even a sliver of doubt early exposure to certain films can
create a lifelong appreciation of them that can carry over into their adult
years. The same can be said for movies
that are widely accepted as “classics”, which automatically tends to put the viewer
in the mindset of unequivocally enjoying the movie, because he or she feels
like they are supposed to.
I went in simply with an open mind, and was rewarded with a
long evening of boredom, punctuated with an all-too-brief nap that would prove
to be the highlight of my viewing experience.
RECAP: It’s a Wonderful Life is a long, drawn-out movie that
follows a poorly-written character as he somehow becomes suicidal all within
the span of a single day. Then he learns
that such thoughts are silly, because he has too much to live for! Relying on a series of cheap sentimental
scenes, it has, not surprisingly, been hailed as a classic by critics and the
masses, who always prove to be suckers for forced writing and empty
emotions. In an ironic twist, I felt like
jumping off a bridge by the time it finally ended.
RATING: 3/10
TRAILER
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