It's a Wonderful Life
An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman see the value of his own life.
Trailer
Director
Frank Capra
Studio
N/A
Release
07 Jan 1947
Runtime
130 min
Genres
Drama, Family, Fantasy
Cast & Characters
James Stewart
Donna Reed
Lionel Barrymore
Did You Know?
Critical Assessment
It's a Wonderful Life holds 8.6/10 on IMDb (552,062 votes), 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, 89/100 on Metacritic.
Not enough independent critic/audience score breakdown available.
Ratings as of 2026-07-30
AI Verdict
AI-generatedBased on aggregated scores (8.6/10 on IMDb (552,062 votes), 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, 89/100 on Metacritic), this is a data-driven snapshot rather than an editorial take.
Fan & Critic Buzz
The movie "It's a Wonderful Life" has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. Reviewers praise its uplifting and inspiring story, as well as Jimmy Stewart's iconic performance as George Bailey. The film is also commended for its timeless themes of the value of life and good deeds gone right.
Reviews
It's practically an American tradition to watch this film with family at Christmas time each year. I just saw it for the first time myself a couple weeks before last Christmas, and I loved it. It's an uplifting, inspiring, dramatic, and at times laugh-out-loud funny story, with a…
barrymost · 10/10Oh my goodness, I am not going to spend much time describing this gold standard of Christmas movies. If you have seen it, you know what it is. If you haven’t seen it, stop reading this and watch it now. It is funny, tense, sentimental, romantic and downright Capra-esque. I have l…
Peter McGinn · 9/10Lovely film. <em>'It’s a Wonderful Life'</em> is enjoyable, hearty and well crafted. It takes longer than I would've predicted to get to 'the event', but it's very much worth seeing the journey that comes before - as we see the arc of James Stewart's George. It all crescendos wit…
r96sk · 8/10Every now and again you come across a film that just makes you think.... This is one of those. Recently upconverted to 4K and back on a big screen, it's quite simply a joy to watch. Jimmy Stewart is "George" - a man who has spent his adult life tirelessly trying to help those les…
CinemaSerf · 8/10I am not one of those snobs that thinks Black and White is always better... but don't watch the colored version of it, there is something about it that just doesn't look right. Maybe it's because the colors are off, maybe because I'm not as used to it, but something doesn't sit r…
GenerationofSwine · 10/10It's a timeless and great film for everyone, straightforwardly telling us that life is worth living and a good deed is never lost. Frank Capra's films always remind me the world is not so bad. He shows us there is no need to beat or convince evil people to change. You will still…
aochin · 9/10
From the trailer's comments
I want to thanks everyone who help in making of this masterpiece own my life to this thank you so much gratitude 🙏🏻❤️
@TheAhmadShow717 · 4 likesTruly a masterpiece!
@Kedar4real · 6 likesIt's a Beautiful life!
@ninacleveland · 5 likesThe scene with Mary and George in Mary's mother's house is not from the movie. Jimmy emphasizes the last "do" in this take rather than the word "I" (from the movie).
@j.lawtonschloat4977 · 2 likesI just got back from Target not that long ago. I also went out and bought It's a wonderful Life dvd box set. This includes the black-and-white and the color version of the movie, 2 disc set for only $13.00 not bad, if I say so myself.
@shawneldridge4465 · 4 likesGreat film.
@HarrisonInstruments · 3 likesEvery time a bell rings..... It wakes me up!
@itiswhatitaintanditaintwha1427 · 0 likesIt's a wondeful life, in fact! 🥺😢😭🎄🎆
@stephenhickey5834 · 1 likes