CITY OF ANGELS RATING: 5 / 10 --> Not good
Review Date: May 6, 1998
Director: Brad Silberling
Writer: Dana Stevens
Producers: Charles Roven and Dawn Steel
Actors: Nicolas Cage as Seth
Meg Ryan as Maggie
Dennis Franz as Messinger
Andre Braugher as Cassiel
Genre: Drama
Year of Release: 1998
American pseudo-remake of Wim Wenders' classic film WINGS OF DESIRE, spots Nicolas Cage as an angel, and Meg Ryan as a heart surgeon. Director Brad Silberling's previous feature was CASPER in 1995.
PLOT: Seth (Cage) is an angel placed on Earth to help those in need. One day, he unwillingly "falls in love" with a heart surgeon named Maggie (Ryan). Henceforth, he must decide whether or not he wants to remain an angel, or "transform" himself into a human (the two are mutually exclusive).
CRITIQUE: Flighty angelic tale that never really gathers any steam, runs a tad too long, and is just plain boring. This movie had no surprises (correction, the film had one surprise...they didn't use the word "angel" once during the entire picture...pretty neat), no visible chemistry between the two leads, and no great insight into Hollywood's saturated topic of angels. On top of all that, the romance in this film is weak, the narrative is slow and the folksy score is annoying. Other than that...it was amazing !! (this is sarcastic, people).
Nicolas Cage is one of my favourite actors of all time, but I just can't seem to understand his choice of roles since his incredible turn in LEAVING LAS VEGAS (8.5/10). He's walked through a couple of one-dimensional action roles, and now this! All he does in this flick is walk around with a pasty face, glassy eyes, and "feel sorry for me" look on his face. What happened to the guy we all learned to love in RAISING ARIZONA (8/10) and VAMPIRE'S KISS (7.5/10) ? Meg Ryan is allright, but all she has to do is smile and cry on cue, which incidentally, she does extremely well.
Overall, this movie is quite slow, boring, and long in running time. A couple of songs on the soundtrack are good (especially the Alanis Morisette and GooGoo Doll tunes), but a couple of slick hits does not a "romantic picture" make. Dennis Franz is also effective as the comic relief, and there were a couple of nice panoramic shots, but then again, who cares. The story never pulled me in, the drawn out scenes never grabbed my interest, and the icky ending just stamped this movie DOA. That's it. What can I tell you? Watch it if you're bored, and need a rest or something. Otherwise, steer clear from this dog and go rent Nicolas Cage's superb romantic comedy HONEYMOON IN VEGAS (8/10). You won't regret it !!
Little Known Facts: Nicolas Cage's real name is Nicolas Coppola. He got Cage from Luke Cage, the comic book character. He's nephew to the director of the infamous GODFATHER trilogy, Francis Ford Coppola (who incidentally once acknowledged JoBlo at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival with a wave of the right hand). Nic's one-time passion for method acting reached a personal limit when he smashed a street-vendor's remote-control car to achieve the sense of rage needed for his gangster character in THE COTTON CLUB. He also got Johnny Depp his first acting job. Cage proposed to Patricia Arquette on the day he met her in the early 80s. Arquette thought he was a bit strange but played along with his antics by creating a list of things Cage would have to fulfil to win her. When he started to work his way through the list, Arquette got scared and avoided him. They met again many years later and later went on to marry. Meg Ryan's real name is Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra, she stands 5"8, and is presently married to actor Dennis Quaid.
(c) 1998 Berge Garabedian
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