Review of City of Angels (1998) by Alan T — 27 Aug 2009

One of the most moving films I've ever experienced. ***Lots of Spoilers***.

City of Angels isn't a movie that you simply see. Its a movie that you have to experience. Its a movie that you have to feel in order to understand it.

Los Angeles, the appropriately named city where this film takes place is guarded every day by angels who are the unseen hands which guide its human residents in both their Earthly lives and also into their afterlives. And we can rightfully deduce that angels are the guardians of all the people of every other place in the world as well.

Seth (Nicolas Cage) is one of these angels. Among his many duties include crossing the recently deceased into the light, but before he does that he asks each of them specifically what was the one best thing about living life here on Earth. One day, he helps cross over a terminally ill man and he happens to see the pain in the female surgeon's eyes. The female surgeon Maggie (Meg Ryan) fights with all her tenacity and medical know-how to save his life, but to no avail and she breaks down crying. This touches Seth to his very core. It is at this point that he has already fallen in love with her, her spirit, her determination to uphold the value of life.

Seth decides to allow Maggie to be able to see him, and within the first 2 minutes of his talk with her he tells her something that will resonate throughout this film. "Some things are true whether you believe in them or not.".

And fate must also have a huge role in this movie, because what do you know another one of Maggie's patients is Nathaniel Messinger (Dennis Franz). Nathaniel just so happens to be a former angel who chose to "fall down" to become a human. He did it so that he could love a human woman, Teresa who eventually became his wife. He now has children and grandchildren, and doesn't regret having done so. Being a former angel, he is still able to sense current angels and Seth makes himself visible to him so that he too can find out how to become human himself. Nathaniel becomes both Seth's friend and mentor, teaching him the value of what its like to truly live as a human. Seth takes him to the beach where all the other angels gather to meditate, and Nathaniel goes skinny dipping in the sea and gets Seth to join him. Through a series of events, Maggie learns about Seth's true identity and Nathaniel serves as the go-between to guide both her and Seth into their relationship.

Now, I've already spoiled almost 3/4ths of the film right here and every one of you who has already seen this film will already know what I'm getting at. This movie makes you cherish what you really have, makes you understand the true value of life, and what you can do and feel with that life. When Seth asks Maggie the age old question "Do you know what love is?", the answer isn't some open and shut textbook definition. In fact, the real answer is that you're asking the wrong question. Love isn't something that you know. Its something that you feel. And to be gifted with that feeling is worth all the pain, sorrow, and eventual mortality that life as a human being offers you.

This truly is an extraordinarily beautiful film. I feel privileged to have finally reached that point in my life where I can understand the message it was getting across.