I normally only review films I've seen at the cinema, mainly because I watch so many films at home that reviewing them all would be time-consuming. The exceptions are when a film is spectacularly awful, or extraordinarily good. Today I'll be discussing a very very good film called Angel-A.

This is a French film (I like foreign films) about a loser named Andre who has completely effed up his life. He's about to jump off a bridge and end it all when he notices a beautiful woman also about to jump off the bridge. She jumps, and he dives in to save her. What follows is a funny, enchanting, and romantic story in which Andre learns to love himself, and falls in love with the girl along the way.

The twist here is that the girl isn't really a girl. She's Angela, and she's an angel. A very strange angel. Her mission is to get him to stop screwing up his life and see his true potential. This is much easier said than done.

At first glance I was worried that this would be a bad rip-off of one of my favorite films, Wings Of Desire, another story about a human and an angel falling in love. Having viewed the film, I would definitely consider it an homage, particularly the beautiful black and white cinematography. It is decidedly NOT a rip-off; the two films have very different moods and themes. Wings of Desire is kind of melancholy and dramatic and epic, whereas Angel-A is fast-paced, lighthearted, and has rather a lot of asskicking (perpetrated by the angel, no less).

I should mention that it's directed by Luc Besson, who certainly knows what he's doing. I highly recommend this. The plot has something for everyone, and it would even be a good date movie. See it, that's an order.

Labels: good films