It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
You want the moon for Christmas?
Presentation:
A timeless classic that could be considered perfect in many regards, I find myself drawing comparisons to The Princess Bride. Both family style movies, cheesy and light, perfect in execution. But I find the cartoonish characters to be overly PG for my personal tastes. The film is originally black and white, but I found the technicolor remaster to be wonderfully vivid. I’m not a fan of James Stewart’s acting as he’s always declarative and repetitive. I feel he plays the same frustrated character every time with fake positivity. But for the first part of the film I was gleefully enjoying the Hollywood theatrics.
Conclusion:
For the holidays, this is a great Christmas film to watch with the family though only the adults should understand the pains and difficulties of business. It almost feels a bit too dark at times despite the family tone. An unresolved villain and a too neatly wrapped bow to end the conflict just felt fake for me. It’s just not really my genre, I’d rather watch A Christmas Story.
Recommendations
There’s still plenty of magic left in the tank for holiday cinema.