Angels in America
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Movie Reviews of Angels in America
Movie Review: One of the most brilliant motion pictures of our time
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not joking.I'll be frank: I was hyped up for this film. Even ignoring the incredible play that is actually life changing, it has a stellar cast and incredible behind the scenes crew. I wanted it to be good; I needed it to be good. To say that it superceded my expectations is an understatement.
This play/movie challenges and provokes; entertains and amuses; floods you with grief and compassion. Those final words (which I won't spoil if you haven't seen it) make my heart sing. It features career defining work from Streep, Parker, Wilson and Pacino (Streep in particular is stellar in three different roles), and what had better be career exploding roles for Patrick Wilson, Justin Kirk, Ben Shenkman, and Jeffrey Wright. These gentlemen are doing work that they'll have a hard time topping. Wright manages to take Kushner's poetry and transform it into something Whitmanesque, Shakespearean in it's grandeur and heartbreaking imagery. He does more with a glance than most actors can do with an entire script. Patrick Wilson makes Joe's pain so real that it's heartwrenching for the audience. When he utters "I'm going to hell for doing this", you can't help but cry out in sympathy. Kirk is phenomenal as our leading character - he mixes pathos with deep (and broad) humour, and not only provides the biggest laughs (well, Wright too), but it's only because the comedy is rooted in pain. Shenkman has the most difficult role - he's the author's stand in. He's also kinda unsympathetic, and his hyperintelligence isn't portrayed as well as it should be (director/writer, not actor), but Shenkman manages to pull of these disparate pieces into a cohesive whole.
I'm giving it five stars not because it's perfect (indeed, there are a few little flaws), but because anything this good doesn't need to be perfect. Anything with this much stuff, in terms of ideas, drama, humour, depth and profundity is reall quite something. The opening credits are gorgeous (seriously breathtaking. That's how good this movie is).
Watch it, treasure it, remember it, and whenever someone bashes Hollywood for producing crap, remind them that it can also produce beautiful things. This is one of them
Movie Review: Metafictional Drama: Emmy Winner
Summary: 5 Stars
2003's Angels In America, directed by Mike Nichols, aired on HBO and won the most Emmy Awards for best series. The 6 hour series (yes it is very long and comes in two DVD's) stars Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, Marie Louise Parker, Emma Thompson, among others. The lines between reality and fantasy are blurred as the main theme seems to be that angels in Heaven are suffering an enormous crisis- God has abandoned the Universe out of his disappointment with mankind. Set in the 80's, during the Presidency of Ronald Reagan and the AIDS outbreak, the series follows the lives of gay couple Prior and Louis and straight couple Joe and Harper. When Prior is diagnosed with AIDS, Louis abandons him and hooks up with Joe, who has been a closeted gay all the while he was married to Harper. Joe is by far the most interesting character. Raised a Mormon, a Republican lawyer who works for Roy Cohn, notorious for secret evil doings and political machinations. Prior, though, is the focus of the movie. He is visited by an angel (Emma Thompson) who declares him a Prophet and who takes him to heaven where he is gives specific instructions on how to make the world right again with or without God. I never understand the need for the religious symbolism and business with angels, but it seems to work beautifully, a great symbolic metaphor and contrast for the real and scary world down below in New York City and in San Francisco. Be warned however, this was an HBO series and contains a ton of foul language, nudity and sex- mostly homosexual sex. The theatrical play was much better, despite the advantage of using computer graphics, the New York City location including the "angel" statue in the Park and other visual elements. This is strictly an adult movie with adult content and at no times must this be viewed by children or younger viewers. Kudos to Meryl Streep for her sensational performance as three people- the Rabbi as the movie opens, Joe's Mormon mother who is nevertheless strong, opinionated, courageous and forgiving and as the famous executed Communist lady who looks like a 30's, 40's Eleanor Roosevelt type of woman. Al Pacino, too, deserves credit and applause as Roy Cohn. This movie lives up to its hype.Movie Review: A profound human dimension amid the politics and pain
Summary: 5 Stars
A jaw-dropping film adaptation of Tony Kushner's epic, 5-hour play, which was a defining artistic statement documenting the political and social upheaval that AIDS-HIV disease brought to America's gay community and to the wider America around it. Mixing agitprop and camp with magical realism and utter, heart-rending, pathos, Kushner and director Mike Nichols bring the story to the screen in a big, big way, with all-around amazing performances by a perfectly cast ensemble. Al Pacino gets to chew up yards of scenery in his portrayal of the sleazy, venal, far-rightwing attorney Roy Cohn (who acted as Joe McCarthy's point man in the infamous 1950s prosecution of "atom spies" Julius and Ethel Rosenberg) and for once, all of Pacino's high-decibel yelling pays off with some real dramatic ooompf. There are a lot of things that you could comment on in this play -- the exploration of Jewish-American assimilation, the powerful reaffirmation of a supposedly marginalized leftist perspective, etc. -- but the most profound insight Kushner has to offer is about who the real redeeming angels will have to be in our nation's coming cultural reconciliation. The humanity that he is able to impart into the character of the middle-American Mormon, Mother Pitt (played faultlessly by Meryl Streep), is a marvel of modern political drama: and it rings undeniably true. Pushing past our narrowly defined social and political "roles," and into our shared humanity, is the only road open to folks who want to see America's moral and ethical core liberated from the ideological intrusions of the religious far-right, and the resulting frustrated anger of the disenfranchised middle-liberal-left. In a strictly us-vs-them world view, Mother Pitt would be derided by those on the we're-here-we're-queer Left... but as many people have learned, particularly amid the devastating upheavals of the HIV crisis, our real emotional lives are (ideally) not ruled by dogma. Mother Pitt isn't just a caring parent, she's also a kind, pragmatic person, and for her, the most pragmatic choice when confronted with an epidemic, is to simply offer sympathy and solace. What could be more natural? Let's hope her example prevails.
Movie Review: A modern masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
I'll be blunt: this miniseries nearly left me in pieces after I completed it in one night. I was tired and irritable thte following day at school, but it didn't matter. 'Angels' is one of the finest miniseries in recent memory, and like Roots, is an absolute must have for your library.
Capturing the 1980's in an entertaining fashion, the film centers around the lives of three groups: homosexual couple Louis and Prior, disgruntled husband/wife Joe and Harper (though Joe happens to be a closeted homosexual himself, and a mormon too--sheesh) and the notorious lawyer Roy Cohn.
As Prior is diagnosed with AIDS in a time when the disease was met with both fear and ignorance, Louis leaves him and seeks a relationship with Joe, all the while when his wife Harper is having what is either a series of hallucinations or heavenly visions--we are left to decide.
While in the throes of agonizing pain, Prior is visited by a true angel, sent from heaven to seek out " the prophet" in order to do good in a world that had gone so wrong.
The miniseries, six hours long, covers a multitude of topics, from AIDS and sexuality to mental illnes and politics, all the while never straying from its true path: to enlighten those who might have otherwise remained ignorant as to the millions of Americans who suffer from AIDS. For they truly are the Angels of America, citizens who face an uncertain future with the bravery and compassion that many of us will never come to know.
The performances are outstanding, featuring an all star cast of Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, Patrick Wilson and Mary Louise Parker, to name a few. Truly a virtuoso performance by all those involved, they truly carried the miniseries to dizzying heights, and far exceeded my expectations.
While I would like to think one day this miniseries will be shown in High Schools across the country, for now, I absolutely insist that you either rent, purchase or borrow this work of art in the near future. Pieces like this only come around on very rare occassions, and when they do, we owe it to ourselves to give them the time they deserve!
Movie Review: Open your mind (and heart) to the Angels
Summary: 5 Stars
It never ceases to amaze me that people become so violently upset when art (whether it be film, television, paintings, or theater) does not take a "balanced" stance on an issue. Art is ART, not fact. Get over yourselves. If you don't agree with what a particular piece of art has to say, then fine. But there's no reason to write a 1500 word diatribe bashing the author, the performers, and the entire message because you don't agree with it. Open your mind. How can you appreciate any art otherwise?
All of this aside, Angels in America is a stunningly filmed and acted piece of personal storytelling. It deftly manages the concept of the personal being political as it weaves the stories of the characters into and out of one another. Angels understands the human condition - both physically and emotionally. The story is not afraid to let people be sick, bleeding, hurt, and broken. It is also not afraid to let them be racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, religious zealots or atheists. The characters of Angels experience love, hate, fear, sadness, anger, anxiety, frustration, and pain. Even without the overarching presence of the AIDS virus within the story, the characters of Angels clearly demonstrate the human condition in which we each find ourselves. That's what's so amazing about this piece - even though it deals primarily with gay men and their relationships, it does't cast these people as only that. These men (and a few women) demonstrate an number of behaviors to which each of us can relate - gay or straight, sick or not. And, at some point, I'm sure we all would have liked to have an angel descend upon us to show us the way.... but Angels insists time and again that it is the human spirit and NOT the angels that will lead us out of darkness. The human spirit is what conquers disease and develops relationships, it is what we use to teach one another and to console each other. That is the lesson of Angels in America... and it is brilliantly portrayed.