Day 25: It's a Wonderful Life

"No man is a failure who has friends."

Risking cliché, let's end this 25 Days of Christmas movies with the Frank Capra classic It's a Wonderful Life. At first glance, you might think this is one of those not-really-a-Christmas-movie Christmas movies. It's just a story that happens to take place on Christmas Eve, right? Well overtly or not, there's a lot about It's a Wonderful Life that captures the spirit of the season.

George Bailey, played by the incomparable Jimmy Stewart, is the everyman - a small-town fellow with big dreams. When those dreams go unrealized, we feel for George and - sad as it is to admit it - we can't help but see a bit of ourselves in him. That's not a very festive place to be emotionally, but that's when the Christmas spirit comes to the rescue. When George reaches his breaking point, an angel (in the form of a darling little old man, played by Henry Travers) comes to show him the way through - and what could be more Christmasy than an angel restoring a man's faith in life?

The way George finds that faith has a lot to do with the values we all suddenly recall each December: Being thankful for the simple things, finding joy in family & friends, and realizing that small acts of kindness can affect great change in the lives of those around us. That is, after all, what this season is all about. Is it any wonder then that It's a Wonderful Life is a Christmas classic?