Change Your Image
PinkLadies
Reviews
Angel in Training (1999)
Angelic!
It's a good thing I have cable otherwise I would never have known this movie existed. I watched it some time ago on one of the movie channels and although it's a low budget little thing it's a very cute movie that I think everyone could appreciate, but especially women and young girls, as Angel In Training is a movie all about growing up.
The young cast members are what make Angel In Training so good. Laila Dagher is great as the lead character Desi, a girl who's having trouble watching her friends mature before her, and can't cope very well with the fact that she too is entering womanhood. But the real star is the beautiful and talented Daneille Pessis who plays R.J, an angel who comes down in the form of an older teenager and befriends Desi, giving Desi just the kind of friendship and guidence she needs.
The adult cast aren't too special but I did think Veronica Allen was funny as Peyton, the rather vile woman who Desi's father is dating.
The plot, while kind of thin, is enjoyable enough thanks to some cute writing and good acting from the leading characters. Angel In Training, while certainly not the best movie, is worth a look if only for Danielle Pessis (especially) and Laila Dagher's performences. The girls are great at interacting with each other on screen and their sweet and innocent friendship is a joy to watch. Not only that but it's nice to see a movie like this that doesn't resort to graphic sex scenes/talk and vulgar language, it's a very refreshing film about growing up and I liked that a lot.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996)
Sabrina rocks!
I don't know why everyone's being so hard on this movie. No it's not like the TV series, but come on, this was made BEFORE the TV series as a movie all on its own, of course it's different. Instead of endlessly comparing it to the TV show and complaining, why not try letting it stand on it's own?
I actually really like this movie, so much so that I recently bought it on DVD. I thought it was really cute. It doesn't try to be anything it's not. It's simple, but for me that worked. For me the cast meshed very well together. Back when this movie was made Melissa Joan Hart was young enough to be able to pull off playing a TEENAGE witch and she did a really good job. Melissa Joan Hart was so sweet in this film, she was cute but not too much, and her acting was just fine. I really enjoyed Michelle Beaudoin as Marnie, Sabrina's best friend. Beaudoin had great chemsitry with Hart and it was very easy to believe their friendship, which felt very natural. I also thought Lalainia Lindbjerg was super as the malicious Queen Bee character Katie and Ryan Reynolds was great as hunky Seth, while Tobias Mehler was perfect as Harvey. My only complaint is that I found Sherry Miller and Charlene Fernetz really bland and uninteresting as the aunts. They weren't so bad but I'm not that keen on them either.
The storyline was good enough...Sabrina Saywer is relatively new in River Dale. She has a crush on Seth, a senior and the hottest guy in school. But Seth is invovled with Queen Bee Katie, however when Katie breaks up with him Seth begins noticing Sabrina. When Sabrina uses her newly discovered magical powers to win a track competition, Seth asks her to the Spring Fling dance at school but by this time Sabrina's unsure if Seth really is the guy for her. All the while poor Harvey, who's liked Sabrina all along, has to wait to see if Sabrina will have a change of heart.
Sabrina, The Teenage Witch plays very much like a chick flick aimed at young teens. It clearly was made on a low budget but it still (in my opinion) looked good and it's just a cute movie that's fun if you have some time on your hands. Try and watch it with an open mind, forget about the TV show while you do, and don#t judge this little bit of fluff too harshly. You might just enjoy it.