Product Details

• Actors: Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, Demi Moore, Hoyt Axton, Bruno Kirby
• Directors: Neil Jordan
• Writers: Albert Husson, Bella Spewack, David Mamet, Ranald MacDougall, Sam Spewack
• Producers: Art Linson, Fred C. Caruso
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English, French, Latin
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: January 1, 1998
• Run Time: 101 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301689984
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #262,429 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It's hard to imagine what any of the extremely talented people involved in this drastic misfire were thinking. Certainly the film was not short of talent: it had director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game), writer David Mamet (The Untouchables), and movie stars Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, and Demi Moore. Instead of remaking the charming 1955 comedy, which starred Humphrey Bogart and Peter Ustinov, Mamet concocted a virtually laugh-free script in which Penn and De Niro play escaped convicts disguised as priests who are supposedly visiting a shrine in a small town. The closest this film comes to comedy is De Niro's embarrassing mugging (it's endless) and Penn's dumb-bunny routine. Suggested for film students who want to learn what not to do. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars feel-good movie, November 22, 2008

By 

D. K. Stokes - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: We're No Angels (DVD)

Robert DeNiro and Sean Penn are 1920s-era convicts who are dragged along when a vicious killer escapes the electric chair. They end up in a town near the Canadian border, and are mistaken for a pair of priests expected at the local monastery.

So they masquerade as priests while looking for an opportunity to cross the border into Canada. An opportunity presents itself in the form of a procession/pilgrimage to the church's sister church across the border. Each priest participating has to bring along someone who needs help, so they decide on the deaf daughter of local laundress and prostitute, played by Demi Moore.

This version (there's a 1955 version, but there's no similarity between the movies at all) is billed as a comedy, but it's much more a drama, or maybe an allegory, though I don't have the time or inclination to delve into what it's an allegory for. There are humorous moments, to be sure, but it's not a laugh-aloud comedy at all.

It's about life-changing events, about miracles. We never do learn why DeNiro and Penn's characters were in prison to begin with, but we don't need to know. They begin as buddies, but the masquerade affects them in different ways. Penn's character thrives in the monastic life, despite, or maybe because of his ignorance. DeNiro and Moore's characters are world-weary and cynical, but they too are affected by the miraculous.

The movie leaves it up to the viewers to decide if the miracles are divine or human, but there's just enough mystery to allow you to believe if you want to.

We're No Angels leaves me with the same sort of feeling that Christmas movies like Miracle on 34th Street do--a kind of uplifted feeling, and a renewed faith in the human spirit. Or maybe I'm just feeling sappy.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Touching, January 21, 2005

By 

M. Valentine (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: We're No Angels (DVD)

I loved this movie. Its totally funny. The ending gave me goosebumps and portrays a thought provoking message of the "no matter what everlasting" love of God. Sean Penn especially was hilarious as was John C. Reilly's character and the moments these two share together. Overall a heartwarming and touching movie with funny bits thrown in. Not for someone looking to debate faith with logic in mind.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Movie, March 16, 2011

By 

T M Strate (Alderney, Channel Islands United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: We're No Angels (DVD)

I really loved this film. I have never seen Sean Penn in a funny role before, he's very good indeed. He should stop playing bad boys and become a comedian instead. Robert De Niro I have seen in so many movies. He's the greatest of his generation.
Well worth watching this movie. It's funny, moving and thrilling up to the end. Well worth the money!