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Some critics complained that
City of Angels could never compare to Wim Wenders's exquisite German film
Wings of Desire, which served as the later film's primary inspiration. The better argument to make is that any such comparisons are beside the point, because
Wings of Desire was a much more deeply poetic, artfully contemplative film, whereas
City of Angels is an enchanting product of mainstream Hollywood. Meg Ryan stars as Dr. Maggie Rice, a heart surgeon who is grieving over a lost patient when an angel named Seth (Nicolas Cage) appears to comfort her. She can see him despite the "rule" that angels are invisible, and Seth's love for Maggie forces him to choose between angelic immortality and a normal human existence on earth with her. Featuring heavenly roles for TV veterans Andre Braugher and Dennis Franz, the film liberally borrows imagery from
Wings of Desire, but it also creates its own charming identity. Cage and Ryan give fine performances as lovers convinced they are soul mates, and although the plot relies on a last-minute twist that doesn't quite work, this earnest love story struck a chord with audiences and proved to be one of the surprise hits of 1998. The Special Edition widescreen DVD includes audio commentary by Nicolas Cage, producer Charles Roven, and director Brad Silberling in addition to deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes documentary, a featurette about the film's special effects, and the theatrical trailer.
--Jeff Shannon
From The New Yorker
In this slick adaptation of Wim Wenders' "Wings of Desire," Meg Ryan, America's favorite child/woman, plays Dr. Maggie Rice, a heart surgeon who opens her baby blues wide and cries a lot, and Nicolas Cage is Seth, an angel with an unblinking stare who falls in love with her. Angels, according to this movie's nonexistent logic, travel at the speed of thought and are invisible except to other angels, children, and the dying. But Seth makes himself visible to Maggie, lends her his favorite novel ("A Moveable Feast"), and engages her in deep metaphysical conversation. ("How do you explain," he asks her, "the enduring myth of heaven?") Seth eventually makes the radical decision to become human, and Maggie cleans his wounds in front of a fireplace in her uncle's glamorous little cottage on Lake Tahoe. But, sure enough, tragedy beckons, enabling Seth to say, "I would rather have had one breath of her hair, one kiss of her mouth, one touch of her hand-than an eternity without it." We believe him, 'cause he's that kind of transported guy and Meg Ryan, with her tousled yellow hair, curvy smile, and prepubescent bod, is that kind of girl. -Daphne Merkin
Copyright © 2006
The New Yorker
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