Delayed Reaction: It’s a Wonderful Life

Premise: George Bailey contemplates ending his life until an angel steps in and helps him appreciate everything he’s got in his life.

 

My goal for the next month* is to work down my list of biggest oversights. I have a giant movie list with a convoluted value system for awards, accolades, recommendations, and stars. I use it as a guide to determine what movies I need to see the most. It’s a Wonderful Life is the top movie on that list, although it’s a little different than the others. I’ve seen bits and pieces of It’s a Wonderful Life over the years. Going in, I assumed I’d seen 90% of it, just never in one sitting. That did turn out to be the case. There was only a little of it in the middle I didn’t remember. But now I can mark it off my list in good conscience.

 

*The month is April, although I have no idea when I’ll get to posting this.

 

Given how much of the movie I’ve seen and how generally ubiquitous it is, there wasn’t much in the movie for me to be surprised or impressed by. And it really is in that category of movies I run into with the classics: what can I add to the discussion of this movie that hasn’t been said before? It’s good. I like this structure of movie. Just a travelogue through someone’s life. Not exactly plot intensive. It paints a picture of George Bailey’s life. We can see why he views his life as a disappointment at first, yet we can also see how he came to mean so much to the town. The scattered story-telling is all in service of that truly joyous ending.

 

Obviously the movie is dated in ways and oversimplified. It remains funny how we are supposed to see his wife (Donna Reed) becoming a lonely librarian without George around as some horror scenario. What helps is that It’s a Wonderful Life is merely dated, not objectionable. There aren’t any places where I have to tell myself “It was OK to use that word back then” and no surprise blackface. This film was never shoved down my throat growing up either. I have no reason to have ill-will toward this movie. I can understand a lot of people being tired of it. However, that’s less a comment on quality and more about overexposure.

 

Verdict: Strongly Recommend