There are hokey moments galore and the ten minutes preceding the final five are almost too corny but nothing can diminish the overall effect of this heartwarming tribute to an ordinary man.
Comment
08/17/02
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
94
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:52
Fresh:49
Rotten:3
Average Rating:8.6/10
Consensus: The holiday classic to define all holiday classics, It's a Wonderful Life is one of a handful of films worth an annual viewing.
Synopsis: A good but slightly ineffectual man tries to off himself after an error that really wasn't his fault. In Christmas Carol fashion, his crusty-but-lovable guardian angel shows up to give him a tour... [More]
Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell
Director: Frank Capra
Reviews for It's a Wonderful Life
Top Critic...raise your hand if you think It's A Wonderful Life is mushy, sentimental, over-praised hokum. Now, go to your room. Both of you.
11/05/09
If you can separate - or rescue - It's a Wonderful Life from its niche as a Christmas classic, you might discover a film that swings wildly from noirlike starkness to saccharine bathos.
12/12/08
It's a Wonderful Life is a pretty wonderful movie.
12/05/08
A genuine American classic.
10/18/08
Top CriticYou'd have to possess a very hard heart not to find something to love in this story.
11/27/07
Without overlooking its lapses into populist bathos, it's necessary to rescue It's a Wonderful Life from its spot at the centerpiece of untouchable American "classics."
11/16/07
George Bailey and Bedford Falls never looked so good!
11/06/07
The epiphany of movie sentiment and a transcendent experience.
06/26/07
The April-air wholesomeness and humanism of this natural bring back vividly the reminder that, essentially, the screen best offers unselfconscious, forthright entertainment.
06/26/07
Top CriticHistory vindicated Capra: Though failure at the time of release, the superbly acted film (terrific Jimmy Stewart) is recognized today as undisputable masterpiece; the film's message didn't fit the disillusioned mood of the country right after WWII
12/15/06
As warm and comforting as a scarf knit by Grandma.
11/04/06
Deserving of one viewing per year, preferably without the interruption of commercials.
10/05/06
Regardless of whether or not you believe in angels, it's a wonderful movie.
06/24/06
Not only as one of the best Christmas movies, but THE Christmas movie.
12/23/05
By now everyone knows Frank Capra's holiday classic and the tears it so effortlessly conjures up year after year -- but it's easy to forget how truly vicious the film is, and how brilliantly James Stewart rises to the challenge.
12/17/05
The film's entire premise can be summed up with a bit of text from the film: "Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends."
04/17/05
No review available.
03/11/05
No review available.
12/26/04
Director Frank Capra's perennial plum.
10/25/04
Latest News for It's a Wonderful Life
June 10, 2008:
Bob Anderson: 1933-2008 
Bob Anderson, the actor who played the younger version of George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life, has succumbed to cancer at the age of 75. More...
June 22, 2007:
AFI Announces Top 100 Movies of All Time ... Again
Ten years ago the AFI gave us a list of the Top 100 American Films Ever Made -- and when that was done they churned out 15 other lists every few years. And then last night they... More...
December 22, 2006:
RT's Top Christmas Classics -- Christmas Countdown, Day Five
Welcome to the last day of RT's Five Days of Christmas Countdown, where we serve up a different list each day of the best holiday flicks around. Today, we've got the crème de la... More...
December 15, 2005:
Critical Consensus: A Sly "Family Stone," A Towering "Kong"
This week at the movies, we have a giant ape {"King Kong"} and some yuletide dramedy ("The Family Stone"). Will the critics go bananas for these flicks? More...
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