As requested by SC; I'm a man of my word.
It's a Wonderful Life **
(1946/Capra/US)
Overrated. The ultimate feel-good film? Perhaps for somebody who has ever considered jumping off a bridge on a snowy wintry night after being punched in the face by a teacher's husband. Not for me.
James Stewart is George Bailey, a family man who rises to wealth and fame, loses it all, and is saved from suicide by an angel who's been sent to Earth to show him what the world would've been like without him.
This is my first taste of Capra, and I immediately want to see more, but for the wrong reasons. Instead of wanting to see it because this film took me by storm, I want to see more because of Capra's reputation, and see why this film is considered his best over the likes of other apparent masterpieces such as Mr Smith Goes to Washington.
Stewart pushes the film along admiringly, as always, making the most out of a dislikeable character with whom I never connected with--and for a film of its kind, that would be essential. Bailey is a loud man, often angry, frustrated. I can't count how many times he kicked something in the film. I don't even know why the angel bothered to be honest.
Production values are fine and dandy, the directing decent without standing out, and there isn't anything entirely negative to be said about the tecnhicalities. But the film hardly grabs you. The opening twenty minutes are promising, with Stewart's annoying innocence offering a few laughs, particularly as he dances with his back to the swimming pool. But after that, the script gives way to an uninterersting narrative which takes far too long to gain momentum and takes too long to tie itself up.
It's funny how George was going to commit suicide off the bridge, but when he does dive in (top marks for the splash), he doesn't die. Anyway, nitpicking aside, this is a good film that has undoubtedly acquired a status of a popular classic; to me, though, it isn't quite the classic to which it aspires.
Its apparent "universal" theme is conveyed only halfheartedly. At the end of the film, Bailey apparently realises that money doesn't matter one bit; why then, did the writers have him become the richest man in the town? It destroyed the ultimate moral of the story, in effect saying that money did matter after all. But this is Capitalism; of course it matters.
Two stars depicts a great film in my rating system. It would seem to be a generous rating for a film which simply failed to hold my interest, but it deserves such acclaim for Stewart's performance and the solid production alone.
Mick
