It's a Wonderful Life, chosen by Emily's dad Ben, is one of those flicks that will never get old. I will watch it every holiday season (including the coming one that is fast approaching) and never get tired of it. It is the true Christmas classic, although as my girlfriend Stephanie pointed out to me, the majority of the movie does not, in fact, occur at Christmas time. Details, details.
Stephanie is fascinating to me for how few seemingly essential (in my opinion) classic films she has been exposed to. Conversely, I'm sure she hates the fact I have not seen, I don't know, The Princess Diaries or something. Anyway I mentioned I had to watch It's a Wonderful Life, to which she replied, naturally, "Oh, I haven't seen that one". I usually would facepalm to someone saying that about the most popular Christmas movie of all time (A Christmas Story being close second), but she is Buddhist so I let it slide. Still, I forced her to sit and watch the film with me :).
I am a sentimental person, so It's a Wonderful Life hits me right at the core. Fortunately, I managed to keep from getting all weepy, a difficult task with this movie. Frank Capra was the master of manipulating emotion, the Robert Zemeckis of the 1940's, if you will. Capra's everyman characters were his trademark, and George Baily, as portrayed by James Stewart, is the pinnacle of everymanly-ness. As mentioned before, most of the film is not Christmasy in the least, but rather an extended flashback of George Bailey's life leading up to a critical Christmas Eve.
I don't really want to dwell on the plot, because A: You have probably seen the movie and B: if you haven't GO WATCH IT, for goodness sakes. It is the Godfather of feel good/Holiday movies!
A few details I notice seeing It's a Wonderful Life now that I didn't before I got all educated and stuff include just how well the story is told; every minor character serves a distinct purpose, every scene is well crafted and tightly put together to tell the story. Also worth mentioning is that Stewart turned in one the best performances in his legendary career.
So Stephanie ended up enjoying it, and I teared up a little at the end, like always. If you want to be reminded that you are rich with more than money, this is the film for you.
Production Value: 4/5
Plot: 5/5
Acting Performances: 5/5
Less Christmasy than: Die Hard
Overall: 10/10
NEXT!
Speaking of legendary careers, how about that Tom Hanks, eh? He's been stranded on an island, stricken with AIDS, ran across the country, stormed the beaches of Normandy... Tom Hanks is everywhere. If Robert Zemeckis is this generation's Frank Capra, you could surely say Hanks is his James Stewart. Of course, the above are all films Mr. Hanks WANTS us to remember. Bachelor Party is not one of those movies. For you see, in the eighties, Tom Hanks was more akin to Rob Schneider.
So does Tom Hanks quality acting + gratuitous nudity = awesome? In this case, no. It does not. Only perhaps because Hanks was not quite up to his future standard, for it wasn't for lack of trying in the nudity department.
Indeed, Bachelor Party delivered on cousin-in-law Eric's promise of full frontal nudity. But not on much else, unfortunately. The characters were largely forgettable, the plot seemed to have been forgotten, and frankly, it is just plain not funny. (The one gag that had a chance was deflated by my fond remembrance of a similar sight gag in the infinitely better Animal House.)
The plot centers around the impending marriage of debutante Debbie to slovenly Rick. Rick's best buds (there were four or five, maybe six, all completely worthless) decide to throw him the bitching-est bachelor party around. Meanwhile, Debbie's ex Cole, a ridiculously cliched country club buffoon, tries to sway Rick from marriage, offering bribes, gifts, and eventually resorting to espionage and even kidnapping the bride to be. Its all quite hackneyed and goofy, but its fine. He has a reason for his actions.
Reason is somewhat lacking in the other subplot, wherein the bridal shower relocates first to a Chippendale bar, then, after a quick costume change to appear as hookers, to the hotel where the grand party is taking place.
Ok, did I miss something? Why is it so important for the ladies to break in on the guys' fun? Did they really think the "costumes" were going to fool anyone? When accosted by the pimp's enforcer Milt, why admit to being prostitutes?
The highlight of the movie, by far, comes at the very end, as Rick chases Cole into a theater showing a 3D movie. The action onscreen is mirrored by the two scuffling, sending the crowd into a frenzy over the "best 3D effects [they've] ever seen". One woman requires a punch in the face before agreeing. A very funny commentary on the idiocy of the 3D gimmick, which comes and goes every thirty years or so (50's, 80's, 10's, look it up).
Bachelor Party serves today mostly as a barometer for how Tom Hanks' career path has progressed. Amazing to think that, had he continued down the same road, he might have been a contemporary of Paulie Shore? Even weirder to think about, perhaps given a few different opportunities, we could have had Adam Sandler starring in Inception. Who knows, but I will tell you this, Hanks has always been Hanks, whether he is solving ancient riddles, chasing criminals with an ugly dog, or watching a donkey show.
Production Value: 2/5
Humor: 2/5
Acting Performances: 2/5
Phases of Tom Hanks: Gross Out Comedy/Rom Com/Drama/Shitty Ron Howard movies
Overall: 4/10
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