It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

Dreadfully Boring

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

What do we have here? Could this be the most positive film ever conceived? Was this made for children or for the whole family? Was it crafted for suicidal maniacs maybe? No, no, it can't be that; too dark for children and too childish for adults. I don't like to use the word "dated", but this is what I would call a dated film with a dated (now cliched) message. Well, it has an intensely naive positive message, but maybe necessary for that period. But why so much optimism? Could have been because of the post-war overoptimism? The Post-World War II economic boom? Could be. The film is clearly flawed, objectively speaking. The main problem is the protagonist. With just a few occasionally bursts of anger towards the end, he has a flawless character. Altruistic, nice, tolerant, idealistic, etc etc. He is the perfect white boy. The antagonist is pretty much the antithesis of the main character. Stereotypical Walt Disney cartoons-like characters? Well, almost. Almost! Also, this is a fantasy film not because of the fantastic elements, but because characters act unnaturally during specific events. Some moments are too cartoon-ish and unrealistic. At least those moments are funny, so I can forgive this aspect (this is actually the case in many classic American movies). Well, I appreciate the subtly dark undertones of the film and even the cartoon-ish humor. I repeat, this film may be too dark for children, too light and naive for adults and too cliched for today; objectively, this is a dated film.

Review Date 2/19/2018PLEASE BEWARE OF SOME REVIEWERS THAT ONLY HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW. I HAVE OVER 400 REVIEWS OF "CHRISTMAS RELATED FILMS & SPECIALS" WHEN ITS A POSITIVE THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. NOW I HAVE NO AGENDA! I REVIEW MOVIES & SPECIALS AS A WAY TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT I HAVE SEEN! I HAVE DISCOVERED MANY GEMS IN MY QUEST TO SEE AS MANY " C H R I S T M A S " MOVIES AS I CAN.Now Someone keeps reporting my reviews. I guess they are jealous because I do tell the truth. I want to point out that I never make snide remarks about actors weight or real life sexual orientation. If there acting is terrible or limited "I talk about that". If a story is bad "I will mention that" So why am I being "picked on"? IMDB? When one of my reviews gets deleted IMDB will not even tell me what someone found offensive. Well on to this review."It's a Wonderful Life" was first seen in 1946. In the 1970's the copyright of the film was thought to have lapsed. So for "Around 20 Years" the film was seen almost everyday on any given television channel during December. It was this exposure that made America fall in love with the film. While thought to be in public domain the film was "Colorized" for the first time around 1985. In the 1990's the films copyright was somehow reinstated and re-colorized. Paramount now holds the copyright and they had Legacy films do a new colorized version of the film. The latest can bee seen in the current Paramount Home Video Dvd or Blu-Ray editions. Now I am not for colorizing films. Even if they are done well I still prefer seeing the film in its intended version. Now "It's a Wonderful Life" loses something in color. Since it has a "fantasy vibe" to it at times the color just ruins the emotions. I think the colorization should have had an "oversatution" in the part where George Bailey has an alternate reality of "Bedford Falls". What we get is not a shift in tone that the Black and White film seems to capture all so easily.Now this film is a true classic and should be seen by all every holiday season. You don't have to celebrate Christmas in order to enjoy the film. In this film George Bailey is a man who always dreamed of leaving Bedford Falls but for some reason he never can. One night out of years of fighting MR Potter George finds himself at the end of his rope and is about to jump off a bridge. An angel saves him and tries to convince how he does have "A Wonderful Life". Jimmy Stewart and the entire cast give Star Studded Performances. Keep in mind this film is still being copied in some form or another in 2-3 Hallmark films every year. IF your going to steel ... steel from the best. See the Original Black and White Version B/W 10 Stars Color 4 Stars

Classic film and fantastic traditional holiday movie. Human nature never changes... Even throughout the bible you have the same crooks and villains. Now we just have iPhones and automobiles. Anyways this is a great spiritual movie.

I always enjoyed watching this with my Mom & Dad really good I taped it so we could watched it any time.