How can it be so loved?

Rating: 3/10 (22 December 2013)

I really don't get it. I just watched it for the first time and did not like it...And I wanted, really. I like old movies, I get a nice feeling watching old classics and I enjoy some over sentimental holiday movie at the right season, but this one just didn't do it for me.
I do like the main idea. That no matter how disappointed you are about your life and yourself, just take a step back and see how you may have affected other people's lives. How many good things would not have happened if you weren't there. This is all nice, but I didn't like how it was made and presented.
It is sooooo loooong and boring until the last 20 minutes or so when the angel finally shows him the world without him. And you know what, it seems it would have been better if he wasn't born. Seriously, what is so bad about Potterville? It has entertainment and people having fun? Oh how evil, so immoral! Apparently life is only good if you don't have fun and never pursue your dreams!.
Don't like George's character either. He is the one who never went for what he wanted. And while James Stewart might be a good actor, he wasn't one in this movie. I thought he was awful.
I also don't like how they made the girl who enjoyed to have fun the bad one. Well once again, people who enjoy life, especially females, are just horrible aren't they? This is still a common sentiment. Although the idea that Mary would be an "old maid" librarian without George is a bit outdated by now. Now she would have a cat as well. Poor her, she didn't get the joy of being a housewife but had to be a working woman without a man.
So yes, I don't get the love for it. Is it just sentimentality of having watched it back in childhood for Christmas or is it the redneck hype of the "good old days" and "family values"?