Thoughts on City of Angels

 

via Gifer/Courtesy Warner Bros.

"I came to take Mr. Balford. When I saw you, I couldn't take my eyes off you. How you fought for him. And, and you looked right at me, like I was a man."
"To take Mr. Balford?"
"I was there. We're always there in every room."
"What are you talking about?"
"I was there in the stairwell when you cried for your patient. And I touched you. Remember?"
"Why are you doing this?"
"Because I'm in love with you."

It's time once again for What I Like, What I'm Okay With and What I Dislike. This installement looks at City of Angels!

I'm Okay With ... the movie not being coy. Seth (Nicolas Cage) is an angel, one who apparently specializes in guiding the newly-deceased to Heaven and is especially curious about the life of mortals. All of this is conveyed within the movie's first seven minutes.

I Dislike ... the cheap looking visual effect when it's revealed that Seth and fellow angel Cassiel (Andre Braugher) are sitting on a freeway sign.

I Like ... the image of a whole bunch of angels taking in the sunset, although I'll acknowledge that out of context, it could double for something out of a horror or disaster movie. Still, way to go, director Brad Silberling.

I'm Okay With ... Dr. Maggie Rice (Meg Ryan) being introduced leading up to, during and in the aftermath of an ultimately failed heart surgery. On the one hand, it's more concise than having Seth observe Maggie save a patient and then lose a patient, especially since it's her compassion that causes him to love her. On the other hand, that's two deaths (of a child and a seemingly healthy middle-aged man) in 13 minutes). I guess screenwriter Dana Stevens wanted it known that almost anyone in Angels could be killed off. Hint hint!

I'm Okay With ... Seth having a rival for Maggie's affections in fellow doctor Jordan (Colm Feore). We all know Maggie's not going to end up with Jordan. Thankfully, he was neither a monster nor a butt monkey.

I Like ... that there are not one, but three TV actors in supporting roles. Besides Braugher and Dennis Franz, as Nathaniel Messinger (Hint hint!), we have Robin Bartlett as Anne. Robin has less to do than Colm, but she can sell a line with the best of them. "Every guy you meet (in pediatrics) is either married or a gyno. Never date a man who knows more about your vagina than you do."

I Dislike ... Meg's perm. I could have said so sooner, but it wasn't until about a half-hour in that I took that note. Over the course of the next 10 minutes, Seth becomes a part of Maggie's life. He gets her to read A Moveable Feast and watches as she has an experience at roughly the boundaries of infatuation and arousal. I'm not sure what was the biggest pick me up, that Messinger lived, that Seth's handsome or Hemingway's wisdom.

I Like ... the visual of all of those angels watching as Seth and Maggie leave the library together, although on rewatch, it's not as impressive as I remembered.

I'm Okay With ... the overall lack of heavy-handedness when it came to religion in City of Angels. Okay, so Seth responds to Maggie saying that she doesn't believe in an afterlife by telling her that "Some things are true whether you believe in them or not." Stephen Holden, New York Times: "(The line) has the thudding ring of a marketing slogan." While I would have liked clarification as to whether or not guardian angels exist (apparently not), I appreciate the lack of plot twists like Messinger being a demon or Cassiel being God.

I Disike ... that Seth and Messinger's big night out, including Seth learning that he can become mortal, included an obligatory shot of Franz's ass. While the angels experience a sunrise, Messinger goes swimming.

I Like ... all of the romantic as hell lines in Angels. I've never seen Wings of Desire. I have no clue if "I wait all day, just hoping for one more minute with you, and I don't even know you" came from Wim Wenders, et. al or from Stevens. I just know how it sounds and how Ryan delivered it. Just over an hour in, Seth and Maggie finally kiss.

I'm Okay With ... Messigner having a little bit more to do as the rest of City of Angels plays out. It's just a little bit, though, because most of the time will be spent with the celestial courtship. Hey, Sarah McLachlan's "Angel"!

I Love ... this shot of Meg Ryan. Angels is one beautiful-looking movie.

Courtesy WarnerBros

I'm Okay With ... Jordan proposing to Maggie. We know it's not going to mean anything, but Maggie and Seth still need to believe it could. We also need to have Maggie learn that Seth can become mortal for her so that her letting him go at the library will have its maximum impact.

I Like ... all of the angels watching Maggie as she walks away and then Seth as he resolves to fall. This was the moment that impressed me, and still does.

I Like ... that Seth's first day as a mortal includes pain, awkwardness and cruelty. It also includes charity and overwhelming love. I couldn't possibly top Nathan Rabin's description of the use of "Iris." "(Having it play over Seth's journey to Maggie) is key to its visceral impact because it so directly relates to Seth's existential and metaphysical dilemma."

I Like ... the sex scene. A few years ago, Meg Ryan reflected on her time as an A lister. "Probably I had a very neutered image," she said. Okay, so it probably felt like a joke back in the day. "Oh, that Meg Ryan -- she's so sweet, even the angels want to be with her." Angel itself has Maggie and Seth experiencing great intimacy after he learns that she "couldn't marry Jordan. I'm in love with you." The sex is "Warm ... Aching" and possible because "We fit together. We were made to fit together."

I'm Okay With ... the use of the rule of three. We've seen Maggie ride her bike without a helmet on twice already. She rides it one more time, imitates an angel ... and gets hit by a truck. 

I Like ... Maggie's dying words, the payoff to Seth earlier explaining his guidance process, which we saw right at the movie's start. "When they ask me ... what I liked the best, I'll tell them it was you." Side note: I wonder what Seth and Jordan's interaction at the funeral was like. Also, ha-ha to the Angels Flight being in the background as Seth mourns at Maggie's favorite fresh food market.

I'm Okay With ... God being a man. "Why did he do this?" Seth asks Cassiel.

Courtesy Warner Bros.

I Love ... that they opted not to have Maggie be among the angels watching Seth remember the beauty of living by going swimming. Again, it's payoff to what was discussed earlier, namely the pointlessness of human beings becoming angels, plus Nathaniel delighting in how the feel of waves is only for mortals. I still feel like a lesser movie would have had Maggie in the finale. It's not like she isn't a part of it, anyway.

"I would rather have had one breath of her hair, one kiss of her mouth, one touch of her hand than an eternity without it. One."

Recommended.

Thoughts:

-- "(Hemingway) never forgets to describe how things taste. I like that."

-- Box Office: Grossing nearly $78.7 million on a $55 million budget, this opened at No. 1. Angels held the top spot for two weekends, stayed in the top five for six weekends, stayed in the top 10 for one more weekend after that and ultimately landed at No. 25 for 1998.

-- Critic's Corner, the movie: "Ultra-slick ... slathers on a high California gloss that gives the movie the blinding sheen of a shampoo commercial," Holden wrote. Rabin: "A dreamy sigh of a movie that feels at times like the world's longest, most expensive perfume commercial." Emanuel Levy, Variety, also observed Angels' sense of style. "Intended or not," he wrote, "City of Angels plays like a valentine to Los Angeles." Holden wasn't finished. "The movie is so busy being seriously romantic that it forgets the poetry, the whimsy, the airy mystery, the dreamy what-if of angelic contemplation," he wrote. Michael O'Sullivan, The Washington Post, compared Angels unfavorably to Wings of Desire: "Not only derivative but, what's worse, dishonest."

-- Critic's Corner, the stars: "(He) delivers a performance of bold earnestness and brazen sincerity," Rabin wrote. "It is a star turn utterly devoid of irony or self-awareness." Levy: "What gives the movie its special grace is the equisite, nuanced acting of Cage ... he gives one of his most low-key and lyrical performances." "(The stars) gaze and gaze and gaze into each other's eyes, but the most feeling they are able to generate is a mixture of vague yearning and icky sympathy," according to Holden. Rita Kempley disagreed. "Cage and Ryan, with their expressive performances and radiant rapport, certainly make (true love seem worth it)." "This is one of (Ryan's) best performances," Roger Ebert wrote. "(She) convincingly plays a woman who has met the perfect soul mate." O'Sullivan didn't like Meg: "Her squeaky, little girl voice undermines what little credibility she can muster." On the other hand, Levy felt that "Casting aside her customary 'cute' look, Ryan excels (in her role)."

-- Memorable Music: The score is 9-7, still favoring non-original songs. Angels has three entries, "Angel," "Iris" and "Uninvited." The last two were written for the movie. Nearly on the list were "That Old Black Magic," which Seth sings upon becoming human, and Peter Gabriel's "I Grieve" after, well, you know.

-- Awards Watch, the movie and actors: This went zero for three at the Saturn Awards, losing Best Fantasy Film to The Truman Show. Ryan, meanwhile, lost to Drew Barrymore for Ever After, while Franz lost to Ian McKellen for Apt Pupil. Over at the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, Cage won, while Meg once again lost to Drew Barrymore and Franz lost to Cuba Gooding Jr. for What Dreams May Come. Braugher scored an NAACP Image Award nomination, but lost to Morgan Freeman for Deep Impact. Finally, Cage and Ryan lost Best Duo at the MTV Movie Awards to Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in Rush Hour.

-- Awards Watch, the music: "Iris," which hit No. 9 on the Billboard charts, went zero for three at the Grammys, losing Record of the Year and Song of the Year to "My Heart Will Go On" and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal to "Jump, Jive an' Wail." "Iris" also received one nod each at the MTV Video Music Awards and Movie Awards, losing both times to "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing." "Uninvited," which wasn't released as a single in the U.S. and thus couldn't make the Hot 100 chart, scored three Grammy nods, winning for Best Rock Song and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, but losing Best Song Written for Visual Media to "My Heart Will Go On." "Uninvited" also lost the Golden Globe to "The Prayer" from Quest for Camelot. Back at the Grammys, Angel's score lost to Saving Private Ryan. Finally, the full soundtrack lost at the American Music Awards to Titanic, but won a Teen Choice Award.

-- Fanservice Junction: Cage's full body from the side as Seth takes his first shower.

-- Great Moments in Shilling: An angel in the pediatric ward is just as captivated by a Road Runner cartoon as two youth are. The hospital nursery also has Looney Tunes window stickers.

-- Hey, It's ...!: Nick Offerman.

-- Hey, It's the '90s!: One of Maggie's surgical team tosses the March 17, 1997 issue of People ("Class vs. Crass," contrasting Diana and Fergie's post-married lives) into the trash for biohazardous materials. Later, Maggie tells Messinger that if he continues to eat unhealthily, he might as well skip his $30,000 surgery. After that, Messinger's channel surfing includes a Jerry Springer episode on "KKK Moms."

-- "To smell the air." "Taste water." "Read a newspaper." "To lie." "Through your teeth. ... To feed the dog." "Touch her hair." "What are you waiting for?" "There's so much beauty up here." "Yes."

-- Next: Paulie. On deck: The Object of My Affection.