City of Angels

City of Angels pic
Rating
Director Brad Siblerling
Featuring Meg Ryan, Dennis Franz, Andre Braugher
Overall Nick Acting Directing Story Charm
4 stars 3.5 stars 4 stars 4.5 stars 4 stars 4 stars

I'm going to be up front. This is a mushy movie. If you don't like mushy movies, you're not going to like this one. If you do like mushy movies, read on.

Nicolas Cage stars as an angel named Seth. He will be eternally young, can travel "at the speed of thought," and helps people in need. The flip side is that he can't feel or smell anything, or experience any of the joys or pains of human life. Seth has always wondered what it would be like to be human. Then he meets Maggie, a human doctor played by Meg Ryan and falls in love with her. He also meets Nathan Messenger, a former angel who informs Seth that it is possible for angels to become human. Seth must decide if he wants to remain an angel and live forever or become a human and eventually die.

This film was visually stunning and I think it was directed beautifully. Ryan and Cage both give good performances, but one of the best characters was Dennis Franz as rotund construction worker Nathan Messenger, the last person you would expect to be a former angel. One of the few problems I had was a certain lack of chemistry between Cage and Ryan at certain intermittent points, but it wasn't bad enough to be a major problem. Both of them have very expressive eyes that really enhanced the story. There was a surprise twist at the end which, in my humble opinion, made the movie. This wasn't an excellent film, but it was a really good one, so I gave it a four.

Close this window to return to the Nicolas Cage Page