It's a Wonderful Life (1946) reviews

The Fuzzy Mushroom take on It's a Wonderful Life

By Fuzzy Mushroom · Updated 11 November 2026 · The Pros 94 · The Punters 100 · Spore Score 95 · How we write our takes

The Pros and The Punters on It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life is now the Christmas film against which others are measured. The Punters give it 100, The Pros 94, and the Spore Score is 95. Both camps are close to the top of the scale, which is remarkable for a film that was not a big hit in 1946 and only became a holiday fixture after years of television repeats.

What it does well

George Bailey (James Stewart) has spent his life in the small town of Bedford Falls putting other people first. He gave up college and travel to run the family's struggling building and loan, keeping ordinary families out of the hands of the town's richest man, the miserly Mr Potter (Lionel Barrymore). On Christmas Eve, after money goes missing and he faces ruin, George stands on a bridge and wishes he had never been born. An angel, Clarence, shows him what the town would have been like without him.

Frank Capra's film is much darker than its reputation. Stewart, back from flying bombers in the Second World War, gives a raw performance as a decent man close to breaking. The scenes of George and Mary (Donna Reed) falling in love, from the dance floor that opens over a swimming pool to the shared phone call, are among the most romantic in American film. The run on the bank, where George hands over his own honeymoon money, is a small masterpiece.

Where people push back

The alternative-world sequence is heavy-handed, and the ending is unashamedly sentimental. If you dislike films that wear their heart on their sleeve, this one wears it everywhere.

Who it is for

Everyone at Christmas, and anyone going through a hard year. It plays well to teenagers who think black-and-white films are boring, as long as they make it past the first twenty minutes.

The Fuzzy Mushroom verdict

Must-see, Spore Score 95. The Pros and The Punters agree it is a classic, and we would add that it is braver than people remember: a feel-good film that takes despair seriously.