It's a Wonderful Life!...It really is!

Rating: 10/10 (2 March 2000)

There are multitudes of Christmas films that have been made. Some are only for kids, some are more serious, and some are simply classics. It's a Wonderful Life fits under the last category. Ever since I was a small child, I cant remember one Christmas where everyone didn't cuddle up under warm afghans and watched this movie. Jimmy Stuart gives his most brilliant performance in this movie. He does a very well job of portraying a man who's down on his luck at the beginning of the movie. I can hear the frustration in his voice when the stair banister breaks. But he not only plays this one shade of a man. He plays many more. He is the sweet father who watches over little sick ZuZu, but at the same time he is the man with too many troubling thoughts when he yells at his daughter Janey for practicing the piano too loud. Then again he shows his helpful side when his old friend comes back looking for money to head out to Hollywood and start a acting career. Although this story has vast differences, I find that it contains a hint of A Christmas Carol. The underlying story is still there. A man who is heading down the wrong path and is shown how he changed the world. If you haven't seen this movie before rent it in the middle of July for a little bit of the Christmas cheer.