Don’t like It’s A Wonderful Life

[Cattery]

Watched it for the first time many years ago and a few Christmases since. I’ll concede the sentiment is lovely but OMG, the acting and the script are jarring

I don't like it either, i find the plot really annoying, that so much rests on 'one good man' and everything would collapse without him.

And James Stewart is an awful actor, i have never understood his appeal, and i generally love an old film.

It's bizarrely depressing and I find the whole "shouty angry men" acting really off putting.

Ah I love it - my favourite Christmas film. He spends so much of his life longing to escape and feeling he’s settled he loses sight of the massive impact his mundane life has had - he wasn’t a hero, he didn’t change the world but actually he was and he did.

it’s so dark as well it’s a good mix

Very well put. Just how I feel! I love it.

James Stewart is an exceptionally watchable actor. The Tom Hanks of his day. He's great in several Hitchcocks. He's very funny in The Philadelphia Story and Harvey. I have a huge soft spot for him and immense respect that he walked away from his acting career to enlist in the USAF during WW2.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g Philadelphia Story is one of my favourite films - it’s so funny

Pushing 40! 🤣🤣
It's a 1946 film so there have been better films for you to watch, made since the 1960s.

I like it and the acting and directing are masterpieces. But the sentiment hasn't aged well. Modern society is much more self-centred (which is not necessarily always a bad thing) and the puritanical self-sacrifice of the James Stewart character is sometimes irritating to watch.

Yes but as op is pointing out, it's supposed to be a classic and I was just remarking that I hadn't seen it though I've seen most other classics

I used to love it until I thought of something that I cannot unsee.
When they show what people's life would have been without him,Mary is shown to be a lonely spinster,a librarian. However,without Mary having had a crush on him from childhood,her live would be better. In the film,we see her being popular at the school dance,going away to university and the rich guy asked her on dates. If she was not so obsessed with George,she might have married him or someone similar and lived a great life. So,why is she shown as a grey looking spinster? That really bugs me.

I agree to a point about Mary but the war took away so many young men she may well have ended up alone - he never went to war, which he was ashamed of, but he lived. But yes she may also have built a life for herself and gone to college etc.

Yeah, I wince at that scene. I think James Stewart is great in it. He's great to watch, full of charisma. I love the scene where he's running down the snowy street, realising he's got his life back and he's just so happy.

Yes, it's of its time. It's 78 years old!! I like the messages. Appreciate what you have. Work as a community. Don't be greedy. etc.

What's not to like?

I think my favourite bit that gets to me is when he visits the housing project and it’s not there - and all those people are living in slums

I'd never seen Elf until a couple of years ago. I'm 51. I don't feel I missed anything. It's fine for kids, I guess. As is Muppets, I saw that as a kid. It's not a film for adults.

IAWL is not a film for kids. Maybe people enjoy feeling like a kid at Christmas time so enjoy those kids' type of films more?

I could watch Jimmy Stewart all day. So much charisma on screen. I don't understand how you can say he's terrible.

Welcome to the world of non- instant gratification.
The point is the the layers of the plot build.
Stick to tiktok

It's of its time and I love it. But I can't watch the scene where Uncle Billy loses the money 😭

I'm in the 'love it' camp, it does give off A Christmas Carol vibes! It's one of my must watch Xmas films along with Brief Encounter and Casablanca (I do enjoy a B&W film!).

so basic

It’s a classic.

The alternative reality without him where the town is taken over by strip joints and his wife has remained single and is therefore ... deep breath ... a librarian makes me giggle.

Mostly it's great. Angel wing stuff is just a framing device.

Never gelled with him, and I watch a lot of films of all types. Each to their own, as I always say, lol.

Yes the emotional build up to Clarence telling George the awful fate of unmarried Mary is funny. 'SHE'S A SPINSTER AND A LIBRARIAN 😱'

So much rests on "one good man" and everything would collapse without him? I disagree. Yes, it examines the fact that he put his life on hold to take over the family firm, watched his brother go off and live his life as he wanted and do better financially. I mean,someone else could have taken over the firm and it might have carried on as it ever did. It wasn't a given that Mr Potter would have turned the town into a den of iniquity. I'm sure his wife would have met someone different and gone on to have a family anyway, not ended up as an "old maid". Or maybe she would have gone with him.

But the main message is that life is better for everyone he knows with him in it. And that people need each other. His own life could have collapsed without his loyal friends and community bringing him the money at the end. It's not just that he's the saviour of everyone and everything rests on him at all. It's about community and thinking of others and not just self. What's not to like about that message?

Yeah, they're at a different level, putting it politely.