Review of City of Angels (1998) by Nathan C — 16 Aug 2010

It may be oversappy and New Agey, but this celestial love story delivers romance, along with an intriguing concept. Starring Nicolas Cage as an immortal stalker -- er, an angel -- who decides that Meg Ryan (who does a serious turn this time around) is his one and only true love, he chooses to live a mortal life to feel, kiss, and touch her, and ultimately fulfill his desire, but not without some consequences.

The rest you could predict from there. Anyways, the way the film is shot is outstanding, the film will satisfy fans of the genre (and some people who usually avoid it), the soundtrack (and score) is fascinating, the angels (ironically dressed in black) kinda put a darker impression on the film (which wasn't lightweight to begin with, a plus), and Nicolas Cage delivers a fresh performance that is good enough to make us (temporarily) forget that he ever did those crappy films during the New Millennium(The Wicker Man, for example).

Andre Braugher, Dennis Franz (who steals the show), and the rest of the cast do well, but Meg Ryan is bland and uninteresting(though the chemistry that she and Cage share does send sparks flying). There's also the issue that I hardly felt any emotion, especially during the inevitably tragic conclusion.

But at least its Hollywoodized look and feel approach to Wim Wender's "Wings of Desire" doesn't get in the way of me somewhat enjoying this film, unlike what other people say.