It's a Wonderful Life

Rating:
Summary: You reap what you sow
Review: This uplifting film directed by Frank Capra was released in 1947; still being watched years later, It's a Wonderful Life is a true classic. Starring James Stewart and Donna Reed it was nominated for five Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. The message this story portrays is timeless; not only that no one is poor who has friends, but also that you reap what you sow. When George Bailey (Stewart) was a young man he was driven by his dreams and desires to explore the world and build great things. Unfortunately, George's dreams were repeatedly put on hold by his sense of obligation to his deceased father, the struggling family business, and his friends in Bedford Falls. After years of living in the small town that he always longed to escape and doing a job he never really wanted, impending bankruptcy causes George to hit an all time low. Contemplating suicide, it takes a guardian angel to make him see all the good things that he accomplished in his life and how many lives around him that he touched beginning when he was just a boy. James Stewart gives an emotional performance; whether he is praising his father's morals and decency as a human being, praying to God for guidance, or celebrating his new outlook on life the viewer can relate to his passion, desperation, or joy. Throughout his life George Bailey sowed and nurtured many friendships and in the end he reaped the rewards of each and every one. I give it five stars.

Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: I love movies, especially one's that have a deep meaning and portray it in a beautiful way. and no movie does that like,It's a Wonderful Life

Rating:
Summary: "Every time a bell rings..."
Review: This is the best Christmas movie I have ever seen. My family and I watch it every holiday season. It has everything--humor, romance, and drama.

Jimmy Stewart is George Bailey, the man who gets to see what would have happened had he never been born, with some help from his guardian angel (Henry Travers). Donna Reed is his loving wife, Mary. Lionel Barrymore is Mr. Potter, the sly miser who tries to take advantage of the whole town.

Once you watch this, you'll feel better about yourself and the whole world in general. I highly reccommend it!

Rating:
Summary: Probably not the movie you'd expect.
Review: I had always shied away from It's a Wonderful Life because I'd seen the famous closing image a thousand times before--it's sort of a cultural icon--and had wrongly assumed this film would be a cheesy, cheery bit of Yuletide schmaltz. I was way, way off the mark. This is actually a beautifully nuanced and often dark and bitter tale showing how one man deals with life when it keeps kicking him in the teeth. When happiness does come in this film, it's hard won, not something that Santa joyfully showers on everyone. Jimmy Stewart proves again here why he was one of America's greatest actors--what a subtle, intelligent, deeply moving performance!

Rating:
Summary: The Best Ever!!
Review: "It's A Wonderful Life" is simply the best movie that has ever been made. Nothing else needs to be said.

Rating:
Summary: Enchanting, Heartwarming and Tear-Jerking
Review: This ethereal film does what all movies should do: promote the love of one's family, community, honor, principles, and most importantly, one's self. The movie emphasizes on how we all touch each other's lives in ways we will never know. It's a great Holiday movie to watch with your family or loved ones. It's also a great self-esteem boosting flick for those nights when you feel down.

Jimmy Stewart is absolutely phenomenal and in the movie he represents the good in all of us. He tries to save his little town, Bedford Falls, from the evils of Mr. Potter who represents the evil in all of us.

"It's a Wonderful Life" is truly a wonderful movie and a genuine classic. It will reinstate hope and cheer back in your heart as it makes your eyes tear from the goodness of Bedford Falls; the kind of goodness we all wish existed in our world today. I highly recommend it with all my heart.

Rating:
Summary: No man is a failure
Review: They will be playing this film a thousand years from now. It's message is timeless and because of alifting on rights can be played over and over again on television. This is by far one of the best films ever made.

Rating:
Summary: The Moose Hole - "No man is poor who has friends."
Review: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go. Now before we start breaking out into song, let's focus on what the Christmas holiday means to all of us. For younger children, this is the time to be away from school and enjoy all the wonderful presents they have begged Santa for over the past four to five weeks. For the more adult crowd (at least most of them), Christmas is the time to gather with family and friends, swap stories and memories, and hope they don't get a necktie or socks as a gift. The festive yuletide season is also the time when the greatest films of all time are shown across millions of televisions sets across the country and possibly the world as well. You have your comedies like A Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation, the cartoon treasures such as A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and those delightful classics like White Christmas and The Bishop's Wife. But none of these can hold a candle to Frank Capra enduring theatrical triumph, It's a Wonderful Life. Amazingly the feature wasn't considered a Christmas film until its repetitive showings in the 1970's when the copyright on the film went up. Now it is basically considered a near crime for this film not to be seen at least during this festive time of year. Quite amazing to see how a total box office dud can rise over the years to be not only the greatest Christmas film but one of the most enduring classics of all time.

The story follows a man who is at the end of his rope and how he discovers that he really has bigger purpose in life then he had originally thought. George Bailey is a good man who has never accomplished the goals he once set for himself as a young boy. Growing up in the little town of Bedford Falls, George dreamed of venturing out into the world and visiting many different and exotic places without a care for anybody else but himself. Unfortunately luck does not seem to be on his side as every opportunity he has to escape the little town ends with him in the same place he has been for all of his life while others get to enjoy the life George wishes he had. Now in charge of his father's loan office, George Bailey faces one of the greatest challenges of his life. Uncle Billy has lost the $8,000 that the loan office carried and Mr. Potter, the richest and stingiest man in town, has issued a warrant for his arrest. George now contemplates taking his own life until his guardian angel shows him the world as if he was never born and it's a more frightening situation then he had ever imagined. The story for It's a Wonderful Life is quite a simple premise and yet it has to be one of the most inspiring and insightful plots in motion picture history. No other film in recent memory can claim it has pulled off the same premise as wonderfully as Capra's classic has.

Though there are many memorable performances in It's Wonderful Life, the overall emotional support lies on the performance of only one man, James Stewart. It was once said of director Frank Capra that Stewart was his first and only choice for the role of George Bailey and that shows in his emotionally driven performance in the two hour feature. Jimmy Stewart showcases a wide range of expresses from his frustration when Uncle Billy loses the money, till exasperation when he stands at the bridge contemplating whether to kill himself or not, to his exuberance at discovering he is able to live once again. James Stewart has to be one of the most treasured performers ever to come across the silver screen and no more so then in this film. What makes this feature even more special is the fact that this was the performer's first feature film since coming back from his service in World War II. Jimmy Stewart should be revered not only for his dedication to his profession but to his country as well.

Overall, It's a Wonderful Life's message of necessity and good nature of man kind rings no harder in the minds of movie-goers then it does today. Plenty of classic holiday films have come along over the years including such favorites as The Santa Clause, The Grinch, and the recent smash-hit, Elf, but none of them can ever come close to the staying power of Frank Capra's crowning achievement. The truth is that the messages expressed in the film go way beyond the holiday season and can be enjoyed during any time of the year with as great of amount of enthusiasm as if the Christmas spirit was all around. Granted the film has been labeled overly-sentimental but if anything that is more a greater compliment then anything else one can say about one the true treasures in cinematic history.

Rating:
Summary: Classic Christmas Tale
Review: I can no longer remember the first time I saw this great story of hope and miracles. Once having seen it, you'll not forget its story of encouragement and faith, and in a positive way showing that what goes around truly does come around.

George Bailey seems to be a simple man. In fact, he is a simple man. Yet, with his solid values and feeling for what is right and wrong, George touches the lives of those around him. George saves his brother from drowning as a child. When his brother grows older he shoots down an enemy plane during World War II, saving a transport ship into which the plane was attempting to crash. George prevents the pharmacist from accidentally giving a young boy poison as the pharmacist grieved for his own son. George takes on the responsibility for running the Bailey Savings and Loan when his father passes away. The list of good deeds that George performs is long, and he has not touched so many individual lives as he has an entire town.

It seems that while George is not wealthy in terms of money, he leads a full life. He has a wife and children, and in he is clearly a powerful force for good. His brother is coming home, a celebrated war hero. Life could hardly be better. But then an event occurs that can shake anyone. Eight thousand dollars is lost on its way to being deposited at the bank. Suddenly, George Bailey is under suspicion for embezzlement. Suddenly, all the good deeds that George has performed count for nothing, because George may find himself in prison as repayment for being a good man.

George lashes out at those around him. He has always been the person with the solutions, and suddenly he finds himself in a situation he can't control or solve. He runs from this unsolvable problem, crashing his car, stumbles to a bridge to commit suicide. Before George can jump in, someone else jumps in; an angel with a mission.

George and the angel, Clarence, talk about George's plight, and during the discussion George wishes he had never existed. The angel grants George's wish. During the next portion of the movie we see a Bedford Falls that would have existed had George never lived. The name of the town is Pottersville and it is full of bars and vice and crime, and many of the houses owned by Mr. Potter are little more than hovels, slums in the making. The people who George touched live a very different life in this alternate reality.

As dark as the movie is at times, at its heart it is a story of hope and miracles. George is given an opportunity to see the difference he has made in people's lives. George discovers that while evil has befallen him, the evil that he has personally averted is far worse. On the small chance you have not seen this movie, I'll not reveal the ending, but you may trust that the ending always brings a smile to my face.

The DVD restoration of this classic is excellent, a significant improvement over the numerous poor copies previously available on VHS. Make this movie one of your family's favorites for Christmas and any other time of the year you need to be cheered.

Rating:
Summary: Wow! This Movie is Awesome!
Review: Wow, this is is a really wonderful movie and one of the greatest holiday movies I've ever watched. James Stewart, Donna Reed and cast are so good and I recommend you buy or rent the DVD or video. Btw: to correct a previous review: The angel is named Clarence not Charlie! Charlie was just a minor character who deposited money in the savings and loan. And Clarence was played by Henry Travers not Lionel Barrymore, he was Mr. Potter.