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38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"I'll Say It Was You", April 23, 2005
Nicolas Cage gives a wonderful performance as Seth, an Angel who falls in love and begins to long for the ability to express that love, in a film that in some respects resembles the 1930's film "Death Takes a Holiday" with Fredric March and Evelyn Veneble. Seth's assignment as an angel is to help the dead cross over in this quasi remake of the Wim Wenders foreign film, "Wings of Desire." Few films since the glory days of Hollywood and the old studio system have been given the romantic glow of this film.
Meg Ryan is Maggie, the heart surgeon who is the object of Seth's affection. He is stunned when she somehow senses his prescence when trying to save one of her patients, and is touched and bewildered by her. Andre Braugher steals every scene he is in as Seth's fellow Angel and friend. They all hang out at the library and gather every morning at the beach to see the sunrise and hear the singing of heaven.
Dennis Franz has a fine turn as a patient in Maggie's hospital who knows Seth is there because he too was once an Angel. As Seth and he become friends, Seth contemplates how wonderful it would be to truly love Maggie, and searches for the courage to leave heaven behind and, simply fall.
This is one of the most romantic movies to come out of Hollywood in decades and has a message about the wonderful things we all take for granted. More than that, it is a story about the importance of love, even one felt for only a moment, for it is that experience which makes us special among all creation. To love is all, and to be loved in return is truly divine.
There are some memorable scenes in this romantic and haunting film. One involves the simple act of shopping for fruit at a farmer's market. Another involves Maggie being able to feel Seth in her room but unable to see him. Even Hemingway's Moveable Feast plays a part in this magical throwback film to a bygone era. This is very much a film which could just as easily have been made in the 1930's.
I will not ruin the last portion of this film if you have not seen it, but as we all know there is a price we pay for being human. This film is for anyone who has ever loved someone as Seth does, who would trade all eternity for just one breath of her hair. If you have ever loved someone so much your heart ached when they were not with you, then you will be deeply moved by this film. It is painted in broad romantic brushstrokes and colored in rich oils not easily removed from our hearts. This is a truly memorable film you will watch over and over.
Films like this are rarely made anymore and this is one to cherish. You will never forget the line: "When they ask me what I liked best...I'll say it was You."
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
LIVE EACH DAY AS IF IT IS YOUR LAST; ONE DAY IT WILL BE, June 13, 2000
This movie is a priceless work of art: the script, cast, soundtrack, cinematography-- everything! It is also likened to an Aesop's Fable; there is a definite moral/lesson to be learned! (See above title.)We watch the story of an angel (Seth played by N. Cage) fall in love with a Doctor (Maggie played by M. Ryan) of a heart surgery patient who was not supposed to "make it" and doesn't. While Maggie is trying to save her patient, another nurse says, "He's going." To which she looks dead at Seth and says "He's not going anywhere." Whether she actually sees him or not we don't know. Seth thinks she does; this snowballs his thinking and he begins to question his existence. Near the end he makes a choice after some counseling from Dennis Frantz. "Free will brother," is his advice. So Seth goes for it. He becomes human and finds Maggie; they share what all humans search for and few find: a physical connection that is so deep it transcends into the spiritual. They are each others' soulmates. This movie reaches out from the screen and captures your heart (if you still have one. If not, it reaffirms that we all have free will and we can choose to open our hearts to love again.) If you have a broken heart watch how Seth deals with his; truly an inspiration. Remember "some things are true whether you believe them or not." "Now abide faith, hope, love these three; but the greatest of these is love." From THE HOLY BIBLE, I CORINTHIANS 13:13.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The "touch" of love, December 16, 1998
I could go on about how GORGEOUS Meg was, or how well the movie was made, or how great the cast was, but the others have done that already. The one thing that stuck out at me after watching the movie was the call (I felt) to revel in the simple things of life, the things that are common for us, that we take for granted ("touch", for example). I like the part where by lookig through the eyes of the "fallen" angel, you discover the joy of being alive. That's a fresh perspective that caught my attention fully. The movie is very emotional, but at the same time, deep. It doesn't get into melodrama as a lot of other other romantic movies do. All in all, I'd say it is a movie for lovers, but I'd reccommend it to anyone who wants a fresh perspective in life. Awesome soundtrack. Not exactly John Williams stuff, but still touching. You'll cry if you let yourself!
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~ Various Artists - Soundtracks - 1998
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