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It's most difficult to compose an objective review when the film being critiqued is one the reviewer can't stand! Frankly, this Christmas classic is so filled with idealic Americana that it turns me all the way off. . . . It's way too goody-goody to be of any interest to me whatsoever. I find it to be one of the most unrealistic, delusion-filled melodramas. Regardless of how it wrenches my gut to view it, I have to review it from more points of view than my own. Jimmy Stewart gives one of his most beloved performances as George Bailey: an American man who's trying to live the ideal American dream family life, but falls short. His ideal wife, Mary, is played by the ideal TV mother figure, Donna Reed. For me, it's Lionel Barrymore's performance, as the miserly Henry Potter, who's trying to overtake Bedford Falls, that saves this film from being a sappy disaster. As the plot goes, George Bailey's given himself as a good neighbor & citizen to the people of Bedford Falls. Although he's dreamed of traveling, Bailey believes he's got to stay put at home to prevent Potter from controlling the town. Plus, he's too busy running the building & loan company his father left with him. One Christmas Eve, Bailey's Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell) loses the $8,000 bank deposit for the building & loan company. Miser Potter finds the money & hides it. After the bank examiner discovers the substantial shortage that evening, Bailey figures he'll have to take the fall, the business will go bankrupt & Potter will own Bedford Falls. In a state of despair (more like self-pity), Bailey believes that his family & neighbors will be better off if he's dead & becomes suicidal. Enter an errant angel, Clarence (Henry Travers), who's commissioned to save George in order to earn his wings. Clarence takes Bailey back into the past as if he'd never existed. This enables Bailey to see what Bedford Falls would be like without him & under the control of Potter. Bailey has an epiphany of his value to all of the people he's cared about & for. As I wrote at the beginning, this film's too idealic for my tastes. However, I can imagine former generations of people who probably were so engulfed in American culture that they couldn't recognize the delusional dream so often nearly subliminally implanted in everyday people's unwitting minds. I guess if the Brady Bunch, "bubble gum music," Bob Newhart & "Leave it to Beaver" are appealing, this film will be as well~Read full review