What is it you want, Mary? You want the moon?

It's a Wonderful Life, 1946

Being that yesterday was Christmas, I'm going to attempt to keep a kind of theme going on around here. And so I'm going to make this entry about not only one of my favorite Christmas (sorry, holiday) movie, but one of my favorite movies in general- It's a Wonderful Life.

Directed by Frank Capra, It's a Wonderful Life tells the story of George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) a man with big dreams and high hopes. However, none of these big dreams are ever fulfilled because he always puts everybody else before him. While his brother goes to college and becomes a famous war hero, George (who always had aspirations of seeing the world) stays home in the small town of Bedford Falls to take over his father's business. He marries Mary (Donna Reed), the town nice-girl, and has a family, but after the business falls apart, George, distraught, seriously contemplates suicide. Luckily for him, his guardian angel, Clarence, shows up to save his life. George wishes he'd never been born, and Clarence shows him exactly what the world would have been like had he not been born. And it really opens up George's eyes and he learns that his life really is significant. 

I can't watch this movie without crying. I'm far too sentimental for my own good and am rather inclined to cry at the smallest thing. And this movie always does the trick. Especially the message from Clarence that George gets inside a book: "Remember George, nobody is a failure who has friends."

This is one of those movies that everyone really needs to see. It's to me, the ultimate feel-good film and it always helps to remind you that, as lame as it sounds, you really do matter, and you really have made a difference. It's so beautiful, and I think that it should be shown year round, not just around Christmas time.