R E V I E W S
Angel Eyes (2001)
Starring: Jennifer
Lopez, Jim Caviezel Studio: Warner Bros. Review Posted: 5.21.01 Rating: 2/4
By Sara M. Fetters.
"Few twists, less turns"
You’ve got to hand it to Warner Bros. Their marketing department is really earning their money. They’ve spent so much time convincing the movie going public that the new Jennifer Lopez movie is a Sixth Sense-like thriller with a knock-out twist ending that they may have failed to watch what their selling. If they had, they mat have noticed that Angel Eyes isn’t a thriller at all, and that the fabled “twist” ending is only a twist to those that missed the opening twenty minutes of the movie.
The film opens with Chicago cop Sharon Pogue (Lopez) calling in a nasty bridge accident that leaves two vehicles in ruins. In the remains of one car, she finds one soul clinging for life. Clasping the persons hand, she spends the next few hours (at least we assume hours seeing that the scene suddenly changes from a sunny afternoon to a torrential nighttime rainstorm in a matter of moments) pleading with this person to just, “stay with me.”
Cut to one year later as Sharon and her partner patrol the down and dirty streets of Chicago. Moving amongst the shadows is a reclusive, trench coat clad loner named Catch (Jim Caviezel, The Thin Red Line, Frequency). While Sharon battles the scum of the broken boulevards Catch floats down these same streets almost anonymously, performing various good deeds.
One of those deeds is to save Sharon’s life during a foot chase through an empty building after a drive-by shooting. During the chase she’s disarmed, shot twice in the chest – into a bullet proof vest – and with the killer moving in for the head shot, Catch comes from nowhere to disarm to criminal. Thus a connection is made and these two lost souls eventually find their way into each other’s arms.
Angel Eyes rarely moves above the obvious in plot development. Gerald Di Pego’s (Message in a Bottle) script is beyond formulaic. It is a given that Sharon must have some sort of tragic past (she’s been cutoff from her family due to a decision she made as a young policewoman) that keeps her emotionally closed off. Catch must have equally tragic circumstances surrounding his life that keep him to his nomadic, almost isolationistic existence. It is film convention that these two will find a way to work through these cloudy pasts, the only question being will there be genuine surprises along the way or will the film succumb to over-sentimental prattle.
That said, the movie nearly works due to the performances and to some stunningly beautiful scenes. Lopez gives a rich, full-bodied performance that may be a career best. Her Sharon is a richly drawn character and her emotional segregation is very genuine. More so for Caviezel. He continues his streak of affecting portrayals here and his chemistry with Lopez is one of a kind. He’s also one of the downright sexiest men working in Hollywood today and he uses that smoldering sensuality to full effect. A potent scene between the two in a jazz bar is a stirring highlight and alone almost makes Angel Eyes recommendable.
Almost. Angel Eyes goes on for far too long and director Luis Mandoki (When a Man Loves a Woman, Message in a Bottle) drags some scenes out to what seem like oblivion. He filters misbegotten flashbacks throughout the proceedings causing promising scenes to fall flat. The flow of the film ebbs and sways so much that one could almost become seasick. Continuity problems plague the movie almost from the get-go.
In the end, though, it’s a botched final that finally does it in. When all is said and done, no acting can save a maudlin and poorly executed final, and this film loses its grip on reality in spades. Just as the movie should be jelling and working to earn your tears it turns ham-fisted to the point that all the goodwill its earned over the proceeding 100 minutes is lost. When that happened, instead of tears it was frustration that washed over me as the film’s title track played sweetly over the end credits cementing the sour taste of a movie that lost its way.
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