In essence, you get It's a Wonderful Life meets Wings of Desire, swapping out the substance for self-help platitudes. If you can get past that, you can enjoy it as a 90-minute look at a lovely postcard.
Angel-A (2007)
Tomatometer
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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: R [See Full Rating] for language and some sexual content.
Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Theatrical Release:May 25, 2007 Limited
Box Office: $39,234
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
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Reviews for Angel-A
Angel-A is a dear, surprising film - one of the best Besson has put out into the world.
Clearly Besson's most personal film, a gorgeous and romantic travelogue of Paris locations. Rie Rasmussen is quite glorious in her first major role.
Angel-A shows how director Luc Besson can be French in a way that even the French might despise.
Begins as playful comedy about a crook who meets a beautiful woman and ends as dreadfully dumbed-down remake of Wings of Desire.
Luc Besson's characteristic flair for visual expression here manifests itself in the most subdued way imaginable.
There's little beyond the surface-deep pleasures of this talky distaff riff on Wings of Desire.
Besson's first behind-the-camera outing since 1999's The Messenger is as skeletal as his model-turned-leading lady.
While ultimately there's a repetitive quality to the film's dialogue (the couple appear to be having the same arguments), there's still something pleasant and enjoyable in the performances.
This lighter-than-air bauble proves a pleasurable diversion indeed -- as long as that heart beating inside your chest has at least a mild propensity for the romantic. Bring a date.
This would-be Paris match-made-in-heaven proves to be less than idyllic thanks to the banal dialogue and self-consciously idiosyncratic performances.
A soggy affair, short on laughs and lacking chemistry between hero and heroine.
A visually arresting odd-couple comedy that reveals itself to be, quite literally, It's a Wonderful Life with a bimbo!
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.
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