It's a Wonderful Movie

Rating: 10/10 (9 January 2000)

In one of the great stories of this century, we meet George Bailey, who in a desperate moment is shown how his life touches so many others. It is a story of a man who has given up money, adventure, and excitement in favor of integrity, loyalty, and sacrifice. It is a loving tribute to everyone who knows the value of making a house a home, and making a place a community. Jimmy Stewart, as George Bailey, is able to effortlessly give us such a man, but he is also able to give us a flawed hero who is at the end of his rope. It is when he sees what life would be like without him that he truly appreciates his "wonderful life." While this film was billed as a romance, and Donna Reed and Jimmy Stewart do not disappoint on that end, director Frank Capra is going for something deeper than romance. What he is aiming at, and succeeds like few have done before or since, is to demonstrate the value in placing people above money, integrity over opportunity, and sacrifice over adventure. While these values have been demonstrated in movies before, none have done so with Capra's poetry.