It's A Wonderful Life

10/10


It's hard to believe that this movie tanked on its release. With the success of such classics as Miracle on 34th St, you'd think that this would have been an instant classic. Instead, we end up with a steady and growing following until eventually it becomes cliched and a Christmas staple. Let's review it as though it were new, however. 


We start with the sentimental story of a man who has given up everything for other people throughout his life. He has sacrificed all he has so that others can find happiness, and in the process has gotten fucked over by a shit-ton of people. However, that does not sway him, and even in his darkest hour, he decides to sacrifice all he has so that everyone else doesn't have to go down with him. Thank God that the other people won't stand for that, and end up giving back to him in the end the way he's given to them over the years. It's the happiest ending you could ever hope for because it shows people actually CARING for one another. Wait, what? That actually exists?


I fucking adore this movie, not just because of the sentimentality of Christmas, but also because it has a genuinely good storyline. I think that these days a lot of the time plot is lost among the desire to make money during the Holidays (Christmas Day is the one of the biggest box office income days)- see my Shittiest Christmas Movies list if you don't believe me. You have a character that you actually, genuinely care about and don't want to see go down without a fight. You have an angel that knows more than he's letting on, and you know it, and he knows it, and you want the main character to know it but he has yet to realize what his life has been about. You're engaged in the plot and in the characters, which is why you can revisit this movie over and over and over again even though it is strangely similar to A Christmas Carol (in reverse). I'm keeping my review short because there really isn't much to say in a review of a near perfect movie. It's a classic. 


Peace!


The Movie Mistress