ANGEL EYES ----------
Chicago PD officer Sharon Pogue (Jennifer Lopez, "The Wedding Planner") fights to keep an accident victim conscious with earnest care emanating from her every pore in one scene, then throws a hulking hood against a squad car in the next. JLo means business as an all purpose supercop, but when she finds herself at the mercy of a gun-wielding thug, it's the bravery of a passing stranger - or is he? - that saves her life in "Angel Eyes."
Director Luis Mandoki and screenwriter Gerald DiPego tone down the saccharine syrup they applied liberally to their last effort, "Message in the Bottle," but can't resist overdoing the melodrama in the home stretch of their new one.
"Angel Eyes" is being marketted as some kind of supernatural outing, but it's really a love story about two troubled people who find each other. Sharon is agonizing over a family that has a history of abuse, from her father's (Victor Argo, "Coyote Ugly") former treatment of her mother (Sonia Braga, "Kiss of the Spider Woman") to her brother's current spousal abuse. Her concerned partner Robby (Terrence Howard, "The Best Man"), whom she hasn't confided in, even suggests she may be battling her own violent impulses after witnessing her rough treatment of apprehended suspects. Her mother and sister-in-law's pleas for her to attend a ceremony celebrating the renewal of her parents' wedding vows are bringing the familial conflict to a head.
Sharon finds herself intrigued by the quiet young man (Jim Caviezel, "Pay It Forward") who tackled her assailant. Giving his name only as Catch, the man with the intense blue eyes proves to have an even higher wall around him that she does. As the couple can't seem to resist the urge to be together, Sharon begins to delve into Catch's past, finally discovering a shattering confluence.
It's here that "Angel Eyes" plunges earthward. Mandoki and editor Jerry Greenberg crosscut Catch's coming to terms with his tragedy as Sharon attends her parent's party and attempts to make peace with her father. The ludicrousness of such emotional trauma hitting a couple at the exact same time is cause for eye-rolling - surely not the intended audience response. (I also have a pet peeve with filmmakers who prominently feature a pet - in this case Catch's dog Bob - only to inexplicably forget the animal's existence.)
A second problem with "Angel Eyes" is the imbalance of the leads' performances. Jennifer Lopez has enough street cred to be entirely believable as a Chicago cop and the femininity to appear soft and vulnerable. Even while Mandoki overmanipulates the climax of his film, Lopez pulls off a highly emotional moment, recalling a good childhood scene with her dad for a camcorder when her real father can't bring himself to bridge the gap that's grown between them.
Caveziel, however, needs to stop playing Christlike characters. He became known with his sacrificial Private Witt in "The Thin Red Line" and turned the heroin addict of "Pay It Forward" into a fallen saint. Maybe Mandoki directed him to play Catch in an otherworldly manner to keep audiences guessing, but the routine is wearing thin for this actor, who coasts here with his penetrating eyes and cautiously dazzling smile. Making a stronger impression is NAACP Image Award winner Terrence Howard as Sharon's hopeful partner. Oscar nominated actress Shirley Knight ("As Good as it Gets") appears in a small role as a wheelchair bound woman whom Catch shops for.
The film alternates between a skewed, dreamy look and lushly colored reality provided by Academy Award nominated cinematographer Piotr Sobocinski ("Red") (who passed away earlier this year while working on Mandoki's next feature). The musicical focal point comes when Catch surprises Sharon by picking up a trumpet to perform a blues piece in a nightclub.
C+
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