Angel Eyes
***
Cinema
Releases - August 31, 2001
Rated on a 4-star scale. Certificate 15. 102
minutes. Directed by Luis Mandoki. Written by Gerald DiPego. Starring Jennifer
Lopez, Jim Caviezel, Jeremy Sisto, Terrence Dashon Howard, Victor Argo, Shirley
Knight.
He is a strange man who wanders around the city
as if in a daze. He occasionally helps people, and once a week does the shopping
for a disabled lady. His apartment is bare of ornament, he wears the same
shabby overcoat all the time, never talks about himself, and goes simply
by the nickname 'Catch'.
She is a cop who prefers working nights; her partner
tells her it's because she can't sleep. She works with a fierce temper, then
gets home and lies around, unable to get comfortable. She doesn't get on
with her family, because she made a principled stand some years back that
offended the people she was trying to protect.
He is played by Jim Caviezel, she by Jennifer
Lopez. He saves her life one day, and so begins their strange relationship.
They keep tracking each other down and then backing away. They speak in a
delicate, curious, strategic way, trying to suss each other out. She is more
direct than he, but both have things they'd rather not discuss. The opening
scene has suggested to us that they've met before, but they don't realise
it yet.
"Angel Eyes" is a film about learning
to understand, appreciate and live with someone else. One critic I read says
it's an interesting love story because it follows the dalliance of two people
who'd rather be alone. That's a good way of putting it. The movie unfolds
so gradually, so strangely, with such an unfamiliar and almost spooky quality,
that I thought it might develop into some kind of spiritual or supernatural
thriller.
But no. "Angel Eyes" is a love story -- one of
uncommon style, thought and intelligence. It was directed by Luis Mandoki,
who also made "White Palace", another film about love as a particular connection
between two people rather than some goofy Hollywood concept. The new movie
is the more interesting one, because it takes us on the more unexpected
journey.
COPYRIGHT©
2001 Ian Waldron-Mantgani
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