Like most little kids, I didn't like old black-and-white movies. Oh, I could watch the occasional horror or action movie, but I certainly didn't want to watch some boring drama! So it's surprising to me that I responded so strongly to It's a Wonderful Life. I first saw the movie on PBS when I was seven or eight years old.

Watching it now as a man in my fifties, I respond even more deeply to it. I was near tears at several points in the film. As a child I loved it for its Twilight Zone-ish aspects. As an adult, I love it for its dramatic aspects. And Donna Reed. I've always loved Donna Reed. Who couldn't love Donna Reed?

Although we watch It's a Wonderful Life around Christmas, it's really not a Christmas film—unless your definition of Christmas film is any movie that makes you feel good.

There are two things I noticed about the movie while watching it this time—and make it merit its five-star rating. First, it does a fantastic job of illustrating that George Bailey—and by extension, we, the viewers—have a wonderful life. We may believe that our lives are terrible, but that's a false perspective. I love how George goes from the depths of despair to the heights of happiness—and nothing has actually changed! He's still missing $8,000. He still has a crashed car. He still has a bloody lip. He still has a drafty house. But now he's happy about it all. I honestly don't think there's a better cinematic example of how one's perspective affects one's thinking.

Second, I can't think of another film where we follow a protagonist from the heights of happiness to the depths of despair. For example, we experience the moments of George's marriage and honeymoon night as well as saving the Building and Loan with two dollars to spare. What glorious moments in his life. On the other hand, we see him in the moment of his greatest agony, where he shakes Uncle Billy and tells him that Billy's going to prison, not him, and when he knocks over the symbols of his dreams in front of his children—not to mention when he contemplates suicide on the bridge.

There are certainly many films that show a character at the height of happiness or the depths of despair, but rarely do we see a film where we follow a character on such a roller coaster. Even when George is losing his mind and lashing out at his children, we still sympathize with him because we've seen him act so decently—and because James Stewart is such a fantastic actor.