To me, this movie is perfection.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The core messages of this film is simple: (1) relationships that we have with others are key to our happiness and (2) follow your bliss.It is an important film to watch with your children then discuss afterward. It is an important film to watch with your potential spouse then discuss afterward. The values in this film are as more critical today as we face increasing pressure to create the perfect external circumstance for life than they were 80 years ago before the information age.

Anthony P Kirby is a wealthy banker. In order to clinch his next deal his company, Kirby & Company, is buying up all the properties in a neighbourhood. Everyone has sold, except one. Martin Vanderhof won't budge, not for any offer. He is happy where he is, living with his daughter, son-in-law, two granddaughters, grandson- in-law and a few other people in a community largely free of life's pressures. Mr Kirby's son, Tony, is a new-appointed Vice President of Kirby & Company and is in love with his secretary, Alice Sycamore, Mr Vanderhof's granddaughter. Their relationship, and the property issue, puts the two families, the Kirbys and Vanderhofs, on a collision course. It's more than a clash of families but a clash of outlooks, ideals and what's important in life.Directed by Frank Capra who later went on to direct It's A Wonderful Life. Like It's A Wonderful Life, You Can't Take It With You has a warm, fuzzy, sugary-sweet yet noble and liberating central message. In It's A Wonderful Life, Capra surrounded that message with a wonderful plot, beautifully and sensitively executed. With You Can't Take It With You, the execution is flawed, to the point that it negates the message.From the beginning of You Can't Take It With You there is a folksiness and raw, naïve idealism that makes the movie seem more like a children's fantasy than profoundly-themed adult drama. No subtlety at all and it only gets worse once we meet the collection of oddballs in the commune. They were meant to provide light entertainment but for the most part they are silly and irritating. Particularly irritating was the Russian guy. I presume his schtick was meant to be funny, but really he is just an obnoxious dickhead. Xylophone guy was also pretty bad – pretty much a rednecked simpleton.So, little to no engagement with the "good guys" of the piece. Add to this the fact that Capra draws Kirby as a pretty much stereotypical, one-dimensional heartless villain and we have a movie with little in the way of character depth. In fact, I was so disengaged, the more silly the "heroes'" antics became, and the more Capra turned Kirby into a cartoon villain, the more, out of a sense of rebellion, I rooted for Kirby!Ending can be spotted a mile off, the movie is that predictable.Thankfully Capra didn't try to duplicate the formula when he made It's A Wonderful Life.

This story about class distinctions highlighted by a family of eccentrics was Capra's third (and last) Best Director Oscar in five years, though he did receive two more nominations for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) (which, like this film, teams Jean Arthur with James Stewart) and It's A Wonderful Life (1946). It won the Best Picture Oscar and received five other nominations including for Supporting Actress Spring Byington (her only Oscar nomination) and Screenplay Writing.Stewart is the son of wealthy businessman Edward Arnold, who wants to tear down and develop something "better" than the apartments Stewart's "girlfriend" (Arthur) lives in with her "crazy", but happy family. Lionel Barrymore plays Arthur's father, the respected member of the "tenement" dwellers which includes Byington, dancer Ann Miller, Mischa Auer, and Samuel Hinds among others. But Arnold has something to learn from his son and Barrymore.

In a time where It's a Wonderful Life is known now as one of the greatest films of all time, I think a lot of people forget about the greatness that is, You Can't Take it With You. Capra's films often deal a lot with the essence of community and family that trumps all. This film does just that and does it to perfection.It stars James Stewart but the entire cast is incredible. Stewart is very young and in the early stages of his career so the rest of the actors really nail each and every scene they are in. In particular, Lionel Barrymore has about as good as of a performance you can have and the entire Vanderhof family gets their time to shine. Much like It's a Wonderful Life, this film is not only very enjoyable, but it's highly re-watchable. Capra does a great job of directing his actors to some of their best performances of their career, along with creating a unique household full of what is probably one of my favorite families in film history. Everyone loves the Vanderhof's, and so do I.The film is very light hearted and I can understand if people think it could be corny, much like It's a Wonderful Life, but I don't think there's anything wrong with having a story that everyone can enjoy. It's the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet/Cinderella but it's told and structured in a unique way that really hits home. It's a predictable but really sweet script that plays out just that way on screen. I love everything about You Can't Take it With You.+Sweet story+Everyone in the family is interesting+Twist on the R&J story+Barrymore carries the film10/10