ANGIE
A film review by Mark Takacs
Copyright 1994 Mark Takacs
Hollywood Pictures / rated R
Starring: Geena Davis Philip Bosco Aida Turturro
Stephen Rea James Gandolfini Jenny O'Hara
Classification: Comedy Drama (?)
Tak Rating: watch it on cable (male) or see as a matinee (female)
One-Line-Summary ---------------- A woman comes to grips with her life, challenging her lifestyle, family, friends and child in the process.
Tak Plot Summary ---------------- Angie's (Geena Davis) dreams and ambitions are different than those of her friend Tina (Aida Turturro), or her family (James Gandolfini, Jenny O'Hara). So it's no surprise that things become difficult: she breaks with longtime boyfriend Vinnie (Philip Bosco) after becoming pregnant, and has an affair with Noel (Stephen Rea), a Manhattan lawyer. In trying to define herself, she faces her family's dark secrets, and learns responsibility for herself and her baby.
Tak Thoughts ------------ I think you have to be a woman to *truly* appreciate ANGIE. Directed by Martha Coolidge (RAMBLING ROSE), ANGIE touches on many issues, including pregnancy, childbirth, and searching for her identity and place within her family structure. This movie focuses on a woman, is directed by a woman, and is target at women. And that's fine--it's about time. But, being male, I wasn't as moved.
There's one scene where Angie reflects on childbirth as having finally made her feel like a part of something bigger than herself. A chain from mother to daughter, stretching back through time and on into the future. Yeah. Okay. If you say so. I'd imagine this has a greater impact if you're female. The same with the childbirth scenes, where Angie goes through about five different emotions within the span of four minutes, and runs down the traditional retorts made so familiar by female comedians. The material seemed tired to me, but I suppose it's a never-ending source of material for women, just like being knee'd in the groin is for men. I imagine women are a bit tired of that, but it never fails to get at least a little bit of a reaction from me. So I guess I'll have to deal with the childbirth shtick.
Geena Davis has been called "a feminist spirit trapped in the body of a goddess" (which suggests an inaccurate contradiction) in Feb Premiere magazine. As such, her roles are always interesting. Her characters are complicated people, and in the case of Angie, are not above making mistakes. Which makes for good viewing. Plus, the accent she picked up for the role of Angie is outrageously accurate.
I felt empathy with Vinnie, Angie's longtime boyfriend. He just doesn't quite understand why Angie has to be so difficult, or her strong spark of irreverence and energy. He's "... got a good heart ...", but that's not enough for her. At first I thought James Gandolfini's Vinnie was going to degenerate into the stereotypical Italian, but it didn't happen, for which I was profoundly glad.
I like to listen for comments as people are walking away. I get some gems that way--some people would make great critics (actually some of them are) if they'd expand their one-liners. The best one from ANGIE was from two guys as they walked out of the theatre: "Well ... there was some good stuff there, but it's certainly not for me." To which the other guy added his assent. And I'll add mine, too.
Tak Rating: ----------- I didn't get a lot out of ANGIE. I enjoyed watching it, and it engaged my interest and even my emotions to some extent. But I can't see myself watching it at the theatre again. I would have been happy to watch ANGIE on cable, and I recommend you do the same.
avoid at all costs see several times (w/friends) as matinee wait for videotape see once at full price M watch it on cable see it several times - full and/or matinee F see once as a matinee see many times at full price
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