"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?

So, what better to start the Holiday season than looking at the Christmas classic, It's a Wonderful Life. Regarded as one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time and a staple of Christmas television around the world, It's a Wonderful Life is Frank Capra's finest work to date and it's beautifully acted, brilliantly directed and emotionally compelling film that brings joy and hope to everyone.

Based on the 1939 short story The Greatest Gift, It's a Wonderful Life focues on a man named George Bailey, a banker who has given up his dreams to help others and inherited his father's bank. However, due to a cruel business rival's manipulations, Bailey falls into despair so deep that he contemplates suicide, until his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody, shows him all the lives he has touched, and how different life in his community of Bedford Falls would be if he had never been born.

Director Frank Capra has once said that this film is the best film he directed, and he was right. Like I said before, this film is his finest work to date, as he manages to bring the story of a depressed man whose faith in life gets retored excelently. One of the things that I love about the film are its themes as they are demonstrated in the film, where we see George Bailey willing to sacrifice his life to help other until he's manipulated by the richest guy in Bedford Falls, Henry Potter. From there we see his life slowly getting crumbled because of Potter and his guardian angel arrives to inject hope into his life. There's a clear inspiration from A Christmas Carol.

The cinematography is astonishing and it uses the black and white coloring to an effective result. The script by Capra is smartly written as it fleshes out its themes and injects humanity into its characters. I also love how the production team designed the city of Bedford Falls as it's impressive to look at. As for the performances, James Stewart gives a excelent performance as George Bailey and excels in the role of an ordinary man who genuinely wants to help his community. Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore are equally terrific as George's wife, Mary, and the rich skinflint Henry Potter, respectively.

The only problems I had with the film is that the snow seems fake and I would have like the film to begin with George contemplating suicide on the bridge, but besides that, there's not much flaws to find. It's a Wonderful Life is without a doubt one of the best Christmas films of all time and it succeds in telling a story about guy who spent his entire life helping his people. This movie is the perfect way to start the holiday season.

A