“Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?”

I’ve seen my fair share of movies throughout my lifetime. Am I still early on in my “journey through cinema” (as cheesy as that sounds)? Yes, but one of the most obvious movies that I probably should have seen by now is, of course, It’s a Wonderful Life. It has quite literally all of the values I have in my own life. Faith, love, and the importance of life. It’s a movie that I knew I was probably going to be at the very least touched by.

And I would say, yes, for the most part (where it really matters), this film really delivered on my expectations. It’s a fantastic story about all the values I just mentioned, executed really well in my opinion. I’ll kind of organize my review by the different themes throughout it, starting off with its theme of love.

It goes much deeper than just a really good romance, but the romance was definitely a standout, I would easily say. There is definitely some stuff at the beginning that doesn’t age quite well, but when it comes to everything else, yeah, I really enjoyed it. The main character, George, has an interesting relationship with his lover Mary that creates an interesting dichotomy that was both entertaining and awkward (in all the best ways), and it was simply just heartwarming to watch George finally get himself together by getting with her. It might honestly be one of the standout relationships I’ve seen in a movie as of now, though that’s not even somewhat of a high bar considering that I hardly watch romance at all.

The other aspect of love, the much deeper kind, I guess you could say, being just love in general, kind of ties into the importance of life as well here, so I’ll talk about them together. Obviously, this is basically the point of the film, and the second biggest reason why I was so eager to finally sit down and watch it. First off, George is a very compelling main lead here. He’s not exactly humble, but his selflessness for his town is what makes him so likable. When we finally get to that breaking point of his life falling apart and see just how much he has impacted those around him, it’s honestly chilling. Life is such a precious gift that we shouldn’t ever take for granted, no matter how hard it can be sometimes, which neatly ties into my next and last positive.

Perhaps the biggest reason I watched It’s a Wonderful Life is because of its reputation for being amazing, not only for everything I just said, but for the faith in it as well. The portrayal of God and Angels is certainly interesting to say the least, but it makes quite a significant impact nonetheless. After having seen the whole movie, I guess I wish there was a little bit more of this in it, but what we did get was really great, though I won’t say anything more as to avoid spoiler territory (yes, even though this film is almost eighty years old at this point).

The reason I give It’s a Wonderful Life a seven out of ten and not higher is due to two criticisms. They aren’t incredibly significant when it comes to storytelling, but I saw so much room for something that could have hit even harder, and it honestly really frustrated me, not going to lie. The first one is more in the criticism territory rather than the “I see room for improvement” territory, being George. As I said, I like George; he’s a great character. However, I feel that James Stewart’s acting was often far too over-the-top and excessive at times, and unfortunately, those times were at some of the biggest moments in the film. I don’t blame James Stewart at all for it, because I do think it was the direction and writing that made his character this way, but it bugged me nonetheless. If George were simply a much more subtle person emotionally, the film’s themes would have hit so much harder.

In fact, if the film were more subtle in general, it would have hit a lot harder (my main criticism). I said earlier that I really liked George for his selflessness for his town, but honestly, I think that if George had lived a much simpler and, dare I say, “basic” life, it would have made for a much deeper and moving watch. Everyone in the town loves George for everything he does for them, but I couldn’t help but see a version of him that was a lot more ordinary and normal, because that would have obviously related to a lot more people, including me.

Who knows, maybe those criticisms will become less impactful in future rewatches, but for now, it sits where it is.