George Bailey (James Stewart) had big dreams: see the world, become an architect or designer, and leave a lasting legacy, but circumstances always seem to intervene. Illness, economic depression, and war conspire to keep George in the same small town he grew up in, fighting bitterly against Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore), the local land baron, and somehow managing to get married and have four children. One Christmas Eve, it all comes crashing down as a mistake costs George everything and only divine intervention in the form of a bumbling second-rate angel (Henry Travers).
Did you guys know there's an hour and a half of movie before you get to the part everyone remembers? Yes. Ninety minutes of a man railing against fate and a 30-minute Twilight Zone episode.
With that in mind, it is utterly shocking how well this movie holds up. A lot of credit to Stewart, one of the greatest Old Hollywood actors, for embodying the bitterness and despair of a Good Man. A man who desperately wants things but is constrained by his conscience. Who believes in doing the Right Thing even when he hates it. And the other standout is Barrymore as the cartoonishly evil, and still somehow super-realistic Mr. Potter. (Honorable mention to Gloria Grahame who didn't have a lot to do here but looked fine as hell doing it.)
It's 45 minutes too long and depressing as shit, but goddamn, what a movie. Christmas classic. It's streaming for free with ads on the Roku Channel and Amazon's ad-supported tier FreeVee, in case you feel like throwing eyeballs at one of our own Mr. Potters.
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