A classic

Rating: Null/10 (16 December 2003)

It's a Wonderful Life makes us think about our own life and how we shouldn't take it for granted. It makes us realize what the important things are around the holidays. The movie is about George Bailey (Jimmy Stuart), a business man who takes over a bank after his father, the previous owner dies. What he really wanted to do with his life was get out of Bedford Falls, the small town he grew up in, and make a name for himself. After misplacing an $8,000 loan, he contemplates about committing suicide, but instead saves his guardian angel when he falls into a river. Gabriel, the angel, gives George a look at what life would be like if he had never been born. I thought that this was a great movie. The acting was great, and the love story wasn't corny. Stuart could portray so many different types of emotions that made the story seem real. You see his character develop from being an optimist, wanting to get out and see the world, to a desperate business man confused about what the real meaning of life is. Donna Reid played her character well also. She was Mary Bailey and always was by her husband's side being very supportive. At the beginning of the movie she was portrayed as a young girl in love with George and as the movie progressed she matured and became a loving wife and a mother. Reid and Stuart together made the movie as memorable as it is. They had great chemistry onscreen, which made the movie real and not corny. I liked how it was still in black and white and not colored and taken away from its original form. The colored versions of black and white movies just don't look as good as the originals. I would recommend this movie to almost anyone, especially those who think that they don't have anything to be grateful for or who can't seem to get into the Christmas spirit.