A witty, edgy cross between Amélie and It's a Wonderful Life.
Angel-A (2007)
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Reviews Counted:84
Fresh:37
Rotten:47
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: The clunky dialogue and shallow characters fail to capitalize upon Angel-A's stunning, poetic cinematography.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for language and some sexual content.
Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Theatrical Release:28-07-2006
Synopsis: ANGEL-A follows self-described liar and shady businessman Andre (Jamel Debbouze), who is down on his luck and owes Parisian gangsters money. In a desperate and weak state, Andre finds himself on... ANGEL-A follows self-described liar and shady businessman Andre (Jamel Debbouze), who is down on his luck and owes Parisian gangsters money. In a desperate and weak state, Andre finds himself on the edge of one of the City of Light's majestic bridges, ready to plunge into the river below. After one last look around him, he catches sight of a statuesque blonde woman, tears streaking down her gorgeous face, also standing on the ledge just a few feet away. She makes Andre forget about his problems for a moment, and he pleads with her not to jump. She does anyway, and he goes in after her, dragging her to safety. The damsel-in-distress, Angela (Rie Rasmussen), insists on hanging around Andre, doing whatever he tells her, as a way to pay him back for saving her life. Finding it hard to say no to her, and resisting her mesmerizing beauty, he recruits her, somewhat begrudgingly, to help him figure out how to settle his debts. What Andre soon discovers is that meeting Angela was no accident, and that they both need saving, not just from death, but also from themselves. ANGEL-A boasts entertaining performances by Debbouze as the scrappy and quick-tempered Andre and Rasmussen as the optimistic and unassumingly wise and playful Angela. The unlikely pair sparkle onscreen together. ANGEL-A is beautifully filmed, with the black-and-white cinematography capturing all that is engaging and romantic about Paris. [More]
Starring: Jamel Debbouze, Rie Rasmussen, Gilbert Melki, Kate Nauta
Starring: Jamel Debbouze, Rie Rasmussen, Gilbert Melki, Kate Nauta, Serge Riaboukine
Director: Luc Besson
Director: Luc Besson
Screenwriter: Luc Besson
Producer: Luc Besson
Composer: Anja Garbarek
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
Reviews for Angel-A
A soggy affair, short on laughs and lacking chemistry between hero and heroine.
Genial performances and a pleasing plot are elevated to the stuff of cinematic majesty by Thierry Arbogast's glorious monochrome photography, which recalls the Parisian vistas of the nouvelle vague.
The whole film's easy on the eye thanks to the Parisian summer setting, photographed in creamy black and white. If only the romance wasn't so monochrome too...
The film looks terrific - Besson shoots his beloved Paris in gorgeous black and white photography that recalls both Wings of Desire and It's A Wonderful Life, both of which Angel-A happily steals from.
It's a soggy affair, short on laughs and lacking chemistry between hero and heroine. But it's shot in black-and-white by outstanding French cinematographer, Thierry Arbogast, and looks terrific.
The script is such a showman’s bag of self-mocking clichés, empty tricks and metaphysical baloney, and the heart is never touched.
A better grubby guy/hot chick fable than Knocked Up, certainly much more honest about its male-fantasy status
Ultimately Angel-A never takes flight, weighted down by an overabundance of metaphysical clichés stolen from other films.
The film settles into a laid-back groove that is, how shall we say, endlessly boring.
Angela's Oprah-ish effort to change Andre's lying ways becomes a tedious mix of self-help and pop-philosophizing . . . the film's black-and-white look is two shades more complex than its gender politics.
The film is slickly constructed with a hip soundtrack and art direction, but its empty, a glowing travelogue for a beautiful city and two maudlin characters that are predictable and two dimensional. I love Paris too but would rather see its reality ....
A gorgeous-looking film whose crisp, black-and-white photography is unfortunately much more thrilling than its simplistic, cloying story.
Familiar situations and trite dialogue give this movie the feel of something freeze-dried and reconstituted.
Besson's black-and-white angel fantasy is a weak homage to Wings of Desire, if that's what he was shooting for.
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