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Michael

  • 1996
  • PG
  • 1h 45m
IMDb RATING
5.7/10
44K
YOUR RATING
John Travolta in Michael (1996)
Trailer
Play trailer0:31
1 Video
42 Photos
ComedyDramaFantasy

Two tabloid reporters checking out a report of the Archangel Michael living with an old woman find that it's true. But that's not the only surprise.Two tabloid reporters checking out a report of the Archangel Michael living with an old woman find that it's true. But that's not the only surprise.Two tabloid reporters checking out a report of the Archangel Michael living with an old woman find that it's true. But that's not the only surprise.

  • Director
    • Nora Ephron
  • Writers
    • Peter Dexter
    • Jim Quinlan
    • Nora Ephron
  • Stars
    • John Travolta
    • Andie MacDowell
    • William Hurt
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    5.7/10
    44K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Nora Ephron
    • Writers
      • Peter Dexter
      • Jim Quinlan
      • Nora Ephron
    • Stars
      • John Travolta
      • Andie MacDowell
      • William Hurt
    • 133User reviews
    • 43Critic reviews
    • 38Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination

    Videos1

    Michael
    Trailer 0:31
    Watch Michael

    Photos42

    John Travolta, Andie MacDowell, and Jean Stapleton in Michael (1996)
    John Travolta, William Hurt, Andie MacDowell, and Robert Pastorelli in Michael (1996)
    John Travolta in Michael (1996)
    John Travolta, William Hurt, Andie MacDowell, and Robert Pastorelli in Michael (1996)
    John Travolta in Michael (1996)
    Nora Ephron in Michael (1996)
    John Travolta in Michael (1996)
    John Travolta in Michael (1996)
    William Hurt in Michael (1996)
    William Hurt and Andie MacDowell in Michael (1996)
    William Hurt in Michael (1996)
    Andie MacDowell in Michael (1996)

    Top cast

    Edit
    John Travolta
    John Travolta
    • Michael
    Andie MacDowell
    Andie MacDowell
    • Dorothy Winters
    William Hurt
    William Hurt
    • Frank Quinlan
    Bob Hoskins
    Bob Hoskins
    • Vartan Malt
    Robert Pastorelli
    Robert Pastorelli
    • Huey Driscoll
    Jean Stapleton
    Jean Stapleton
    • Pansy Milbank
    Teri Garr
    Teri Garr
    • Judge Esther Newberg
    Wallace Langham
    Wallace Langham
    • Bruce Craddock
    Joey Lauren Adams
    Joey Lauren Adams
    • Anita
    Carla Gugino
    Carla Gugino
    • Bride
    Tom Hodges
    Tom Hodges
    • Groom
    Catherine Lloyd Burns
    Catherine Lloyd Burns
    • Evie
    Richard Schiff
    Richard Schiff
    • Italian Waiter
    Calvin Trillin
    Calvin Trillin
    • Sheriff
    Donald J. Lee Jr.
    • Court Bailiff
    JoAnn Fregalette Jansen
    JoAnn Fregalette Jansen
    • Tammy
    David Harrod
    • Mal
    Jane Lanier
    • Suzanne
    • Director
      • Nora Ephron
    • Writers
      • Peter Dexter
      • Jim Quinlan
      • Nora Ephron
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      John Travolta took 500 hours of Spanish lessons in preparation for this film. When asked why, he said "just in case."
    • Goofs
      At Joe's, the first restaurant the group stops at, the waitress brings the food and, within minutes, when Micheal gets up to dance, the waitress comes back and takes Dorothy's plate without her having eaten anything from it. The waitress then sets down a cup of coffee.
    • Quotes

      Michael: You gotta learn to laugh, it's the way to true love.

    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Michael/Mother/The People vs. Larry Flynt/The Evening Star/The Portrait of a Lady/I'm Not Rappaport (1996)
    • Soundtracks
      Winter Wonderland
      Written by Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith (as Dick Smith)

      Published by WB Music Corp. (ASCAP)

      Performed by Dion DiMucci (as Dion)

      Produced by Dion DiMucci for Salt Productions Inc.

      Courtesy of The Right Stuff

      Under license from EMI-Capitol Music Special Markets

    User reviews133

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Fairly meandering and aimless but quite inoffensive and certainly not as bad as it looked in it's trailers
    Frank Quinlan and Huey Driscoll are reporters for a trashy tabloid paper who are on a bad run of bad stories. When their editor lays down an ultimatum to them, they bring him a potentially great story – a real life angel. They are accompanied by a supposed angel expert, Dorothy Winters who has really been sent to keep an eye on the reporters for editor Vartan Malt. When they arrive they find the 'angel' to appear to be genuine but to be a lot less, well, angelic than they expected him to be – smoking, drinking and womanising. Michael agrees to go back to Chicago and be in the papers but only if they can travel back by road and make stops along the way. As Michael gets his traveling companions in and out of trouble it begins to seem that he may actually have a bigger aim to achieve than just getting into the papers.

    In the UK it is not the 'done thing' to cheer, clap or deride films or trailers in a very public way in the same manner as US audiences will do as the norm (my first time in a US cinema was a surprise when the audience applauded), but it is the reason I will always remember this film. When the trailer was shown in the UK, the audience I was with actually jeered and booed it (myself included) because it just looked so damn lame and stupid. So I skipped it in the cinema (as many did) but then caught it on TV a few years later. Although it is far from a perfect film and its mood and tone are poorly matched it is actually nowhere near as bad as it looked. The story is the usual earthbound angel stuff that Hollywood seems to quite like and it meanders along rather aimlessly, turning into a very vague road movie of sorts. The romance is obvious and uninspiring but generally the film is fun when it manages to have it's tongue in its cheek.

    The problem is that it can't decide if it wants to be sappy and romantic or daffy fun. When it tries to be more of a traditional Hollywood romance it doesn't really work that well and indeed is rather laboured. However when it just gets silly and focuses on a really tongue in cheek Michael then it is much more enjoyable as long as you can buy into the sense of humour that it is selling. These two styles don't really come together and they give the film a rather fragmented feel that takes away from the fun (if silly) aspect that stood a good chance of really working if given a little bit more dominance in the film. Sadly the film falls back too much on sentimentality and it sours the mix because it is manufactured, processed, unengaging and quite forced.

    For the same reason the performances are mixed. For the most part Travolta is quite funny and just appears to be taking the p*ss and enjoying himself – the way he doesn't seem to take it seriously helped me enjoy the film a lot more. He is silly of course but I found this to be enjoyable in light of the more ponderous 'worthy' roles he has played in the years since his Pulp Fiction comeback. Lumbered with the promise of romance, Hurt is not that good but is nicely cynical for the majority of the movie; MacDowell is painfully lame at times and her character is pretty poor, she is a big part of the reason why it is hard to really care about the romance in the story. Both Pastorelli and Hoskins seem to have fun and share a handful of good lines throughout the movie while little roles for other well known faces vary between the effective (Joey Lauren Adams) and the simply pointless (did Richard Schiff really need work this badly?).

    Anyway, the film is not great but it is not awful either. It's mix of the sappy and the silly is pretty badly done and I was left wanting a more engaging romance and a lot more of Travolta's mockingly silly performance. All told it is maybe worth a watch once but it is far from being a good film and, if you don't like John Travolta's performance then there isn't a great deal else to watch it for.
    helpful•14
    11
    • bob the moo
    • Jun 21, 2004

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 25, 1996 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Portuguese
    • Also known as
      • Майкл
    • Filming locations
      • Gruene Hall - 1281 Gruene Road, New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas, USA(sequence at the bar named "Joe's")
    • Production companies
      • Turner Pictures (I)
      • Alphaville Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $95,318,203
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $17,435,711
      • Dec 29, 1996
    • Gross worldwide
      • $119,718,203
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 45 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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