George Bailey may have a Wonderful Life; by the looks of it, he certainly has a wonderul wife; but his story is rarely appealing. A glaring problem from the start is that his personality, as an adult and especially a kid, is rather annoying as are most of the main characters in this Christmas tale.

Aside from romance, family and friends, its themes include money, death and religion. That last one provides George with a guardian angel who doesn’t start his job until way late. What happens then should be most of the movie. Tacked on as it is makes the ending resolution seem rushed.

my rating : 2 of 5

1946