ANGEL EYES / (2001) *** (out of four)
By Blake French:
Luis Mandoki's "Angel Eyes" begins as a melodramatic tragedy that feels as if it's missing something. Its centerpiece is a love story between an unlikely couple who save each other's lives under different circumstances. At first, the film plays with interesting ideas about fate, love, destiny, mystery, and the past, but does so with stunning blandness. The male lead, James Caviezel, plays Catch, a mysterious character with an absorbing, revealing past. But his inceptive existence switches back and forth between two negative impressions: Catch is either a balmy character, or Caviezel delivers a boring, uninteresting performance. To my pleasant surprise, however, by the time the movie reaches its emotionally effective climax, it proves these original perceptions to be wrong.
Jennifer Lopez stars as a tough Chicago cop named Sharon Pogue. She patrols the crime-ridden South Side of Chicago with her police buddies, including her partner and friend Robby (Terrence Dashon Howard). In the same neighborhood lives Catch-who sleeps in an empty apartment and delivers goodwill to many around him. He wanders around the area as if he is in some kind of existential daze, thus some believe him to be a lunatic, but for most, he appears to be a peculiar but harmless figure.
Both of these characters have undergone deep emotional struggles. The vast majority of the conflict in "Angel Eyes" lies inside the characters. I do not want to give away any of the movie. Therefore, I must be terse in my explanation. Experiencing violence early in her childhood, Sharon has taken a stand against her father's abusive ways and is still paying the price; her entire family disowned her. However, her parents have invited Sharon to an upcoming marriage celebration. Should she attend, forcing her to come to terms with inner demons and face her father for the first time in years?
"Angel Eyes" provides no easy answers for its characters. Sharon's private and public lives are well developed and intriguing. The film gives her a lot of dimension-I especially like her family related aspects. I will not reveal any more information about Catch; based on the advertisements, his different people will have different expectations of his identity. By explaining anymore about him, I risk giving away a large portion of the movie. Although the film does not contain startling identity twists or surprising ninety degree turns, it is very deliberate about what information is revealed at what time-thus the lack of information in the beginning. "Angel Eyes" deserves to reveal itself on a full scale, rather than me giving its plot away right here and now.
Luis Mandoki has a certain knack with directing love stories that disclose their plot at the perfect moment. In 1999, his film "Message in a Bottle" examined another troubled soul coming to terms with his future. He does the same kind of thing with "Angel Eyes." "He's keeping a lid on his demons as Sharon does with hers, explains Mandoki about the character's behaviors. "It's only when they fall in love and then risk losing that love that they are forced to examine who they really are, present and past."
Screenwriter Gerald DiPego creates character's who connect with the audience. The story is about "the conflict between isolation and connection," says DiPego. "We become isolated because we're afraid of opening up to each other, especially these days. On the other hand, there's a longing inside of us to connect. I think our salvation lies in keeping connected."
As "Angel Eyes" concludes, each of the two character's has come to terms with their troubles and past. What they discover, I will leave up to you to find out. This is an uncommonly absorbing picture because we believe these characters live in our world, not in face their most private and deepest fears, and, although nothing is truly solved by the end of the movie, for Sharon and Catch, for better or worse, their problems become a different, more fulfilling internal battle. some movie fantasy. So often movies end with a fluffy, soft attitude for their characters-but not in "Angel Eyes."
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