It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
92 %
Reviews Counted: 49 Fresh: 45 Rotten:4 Average Rating: 8.5/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 49 mins
Synopsis: A good but slightly ineffectual man tries to off himself after an error that really wasn't his fault. In Christmas Carol fashion, his crusty-but-lovable guardian angel shows up to give him a tour of the world without his presence, and it isn't a pretty place. Moral courage, small-town... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers
Director: Frank Capra
Producer: Frank Capra
Screenwriter: Jo Swerling, Frank Capra, Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich
Story: Philip Van Doren Stern
Composer: Dimitri Tiomkin
Producer: Frank Capra
Screenwriter: Jo Swerling, Frank Capra, Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich
Story: Philip Van Doren Stern
Composer: Dimitri Tiomkin
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
You'd have to possess a very hard heart not to find something to love in this story.
Comment
11/27/07
Without overlooking its lapses into populist bathos, it's necessary to rescue It's a Wonderful Life from its spot at the centerpiece of untouchable American "classics."
11/16/07
Top Critic
The April-air wholesomeness and humanism of this natural bring back vividly the reminder that, essentially, the screen best offers unselfconscious, forthright entertainment.
06/26/07
Top Critic
History vindicated Capra: Though failure at the time of release, the superbly acted film (terrific Jimmy Stewart) is recognized today as undisputable masterpiece; the film's message didn't fit the disillusioned mood of the country right after WWII
12/15/06
Deserving of one viewing per year, preferably without the interruption of commercials.
10/05/06
Regardless of whether or not you believe in angels, it's a wonderful movie.
06/24/06
Not only as one of the best Christmas movies, but THE Christmas movie.
12/23/05
By now everyone knows Frank Capra's holiday classic and the tears it so effortlessly conjures up year after year -- but it's easy to forget how truly vicious the film is, and how brilliantly James Stewart rises to the challenge.
12/17/05
The film's entire premise can be summed up with a bit of text from the film: "Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends."
04/17/05
Frank Capra's classic bittersweet comedy/drama plays as a testament to the family values of small-town America just after WW11.
05/10/04
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