Brilliant but hamstrung

Rating: 9/10 (3 August 1999)

There are only two things wrong with "It's a Wonderful Life" - unfortunately, they are the beginning and the ending. (I don't reveal what happens at the end, but I do reveal something about the feel of the ending, and those who wish to come to the film cold may wish to read no further.)
To begin with the beginning ... This is the story of a man's life AND of the way the town would have been had he never existed; but the device whereby we are shown that counterfactual is the most ham-fisted and grating one Capra could have chosen. It involves a bumbling angel named Clarence who has yet to get his wings (and, if I were in charge of Heaven, never would). Heaven (or perhaps God - it's hard to tell) appears to be the Crab Nebula and it flashes whenever it utters an accented syllable. Clarence is a half-witted interstellar firefly. I'm not making fun of the special effects: I'm questioning the fact that the deus ex machina had to be made into a character at all, let alone such an annoying one.
But the ending is worse. It's clearly MEANT to be a happy ending: the trouble is that it's no continuation whatever of the preceding story. Difficulties are vanquished by being ignored. It's as if Capra visualised the scene he wanted at the end, and when he discovered it didn't fit, filmed it anyway. A genuinely happy ending would have been great - even a tragic ending would have been less painful, and depressing, to watch.
Now for the good news. Between the faltering beginning and the sour conclusion it's sustained magic - one brilliant scene after another, to the point where it's difficult to believe that so many good bits found their way into the same film. And I don't just mean that individual scenes play well, but to no purpose: there really is a fine and complex story supporting them. The ending is a genuine shame, but if you can get past it, good luck to you.