Data
Title: It's a Wonderful Life
Year: 1946
Length: 130 minutes
Director: Frank Capra
Writers: Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett & Frank Capra, with Jo Swerling, story by Philip Van Doren Stern
Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers
Music: Dimitri Tiomkin
Distinctions: Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Stewart), Best Editing and Best Sound Recording; currently #30 on the IMDb's Top 250
My reaction
Synopsis: angels intervene when a selfless man considers suicide
How I saw it: on tv (probably); on video (rented from Netflix) yesterday
Concept: Bad.
Story: Indifferent. It somehow manages to be a compelling story when you're watching it, but that's entirely due to Jimmy Stewart's awesomeness.
Characters: Great.
Dialog: Great.
Pacing: Good.
Cinematography: Indifferent.
Special effects/design: Good. Mostly great, but I was distracted by the fake snow.
Acting: Great.
Music: Indifferent.
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great). I had had the impression of this movie being sappy, sentimental mush. So it really took me by surprise when I sat down to actually watch the whole thing (instead of seeing a scene here or there out of context) how much I was genuinely emotionally involved. It does kind of turn dopey once Clarence shows up, though. I can't help but thinking it would be a better movie if it ended there and skipped the whole "what if" gimmick.
Objective Rating: 2.9/4 (Good).
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