Noah Cassidy’s review published on Letterboxd:
Attaboy, Clarence.
Man, I mean, when "Auld Lang Syne" starts, like the millisecond the song begins, it's just like the floodgates open, it's ridiculous. It's also the mark of stellar filmmaking and evidence of how moving art is capable of being. I have met certain people throughout my life who have told me truthfully that if I had not met them, their lives would be very different. Similarly, I have met countless people who I could say the exact same about. It's something I sometimes try to make myself think about, especially when for some reason or another I'm down in the dumps. Just by my existence, I have made the lives of other people better. So, what would it do to them if I were to throw my life away before it was truly my time to go? It's a Wonderful Life has one of the most apt titles of a film you're going to find because it really does showcase the ups and downs of life itself. I think that latter aspect gets overlooked sometimes, this is in multiple scenes a very dark movie. People get hit, they cry, they yell, they grieve, this film isn't about showing just the sunshine and rainbows of existence. It's about the whole spectrum. When the bad of life get really bad, it can cloud over the good, but the good is and has been around you. No one person has lived a life of repeated failure. Whether they know it or not, their existence has improved the conditions of someone else on this planet. You don't have to be humble all the time, no one and nothing is perfect, frustration and aggravation is going to come and go. Jimmy Stewart really was just the best person to play a character like George Bailey. He can go through all the motions, being happy as a clam at one point in his life, then being ready to be done with it all later on, selling everything completely. Then, when it all comes together in the finale, when Bailey gets a full grasp on his importance, how we as humans are all connected through intertwining lines, there's little else more joyful and guaranteed to move you than this story. You're the best, if no one else will tell you that today, I will. You're loved, you're valued, all that stuff, it's true and I mean it. Happy holidays, everyone.
10/10
