Wednesday, December 16, 2009

25 Days of Christmas: Day Sixteen


It's A Wonderful Life (1946)

"You've been given a great gift, George: A chance to see what the world would be like without you." - Clarence










I didn't see this movie until I was 22 years of age. I'm not sure why it never crossed my path before then. I was alone that Christmas. My wife was deployed away from me for six months and Christmas happened to fall in there at some point. I had been asked by a friend to come over to his house for Christmas dinner and to hang out a little before that and when he heard I had never seen the movie he put it on and made me watch it.

My first thought upon finishing the film was... that was a really long movie. But not in a bad way. I didn't know we would get to see so much of the life of George Bailey. I didn't know we would get to see his childhood and his young adult days. We traveled with him all the way to his marriage and into his gray hairs. It was a good trip. One that it took George a visit from an angel to see.

I knew the story. I had seen countless copies through out my life. Someone on the edge gets to see what the world would have been like if they had never been born. I remember Bevis and Butthead doing an episode like it and the angel was telling Bevis that maybe it was best if he really hadn't come into the world because it would have been a better place without him. An interesting twist.

I like the movie. It's not one I feel the need to watch every Christmas though. Maybe every couple of years here and there. It's not one I want to abuse and have it become another Christmas Story for me. I don't need another movie ruined by over exposure.

The acting is great in the flick but that's almost a given since we have Jimmy Stewart giving life to George Bailey. He is one of the most consistent actors that has ever graced the silver screen. It doesn't hurt that he is the star of my favorite flick, Rear Window, either.

I recommend seeing this one of you haven't already. You may have seen the ending all over the place or seen other versions of it but trust me. It's the journey George has to go on... not the destination that is important.

1 Comments:

Blogger Maria said...

I don't think I watched the whole thing till I was 19ish. The family I babysat for had me over on New Year's Eve '98 or '99 and the whole family watched it then. It was a good movie but I haven't watched the whole thing since.

December 19, 2009 at 9:33 AM  

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