Angels in America 

Playwright Tony Kushner adapts his political epic about the AIDS crisis during the mid-1980s and centers the story around a group of separate but connected individuals.

Stars:

Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson

Won 5 Golden Globes. Another 57 wins & 42 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Al Pacino	...	Roy Cohn 7 episodes, 2003
Mary-Louise Parker	...	Harper Pitt 7 episodes, 2003
Jeffrey Wright	...	Mr. Lies / ... 7 episodes, 2003
Justin Kirk	...	Prior Walter / ... 7 episodes, 2003
Ben Shenkman	...	Louis Ironson 7 episodes, 2003
Meryl Streep	...	Hannah Pitt / ... 7 episodes, 2003
Patrick Wilson	...	Joe Pitt 6 episodes, 2003
Emma Thompson	...	Nurse Emily / ... 6 episodes, 2003
James Cromwell	...	Roy's Doctor 5 episodes, 2003
Brian Markinson	...	Martin Heller 5 episodes, 2003
Robin Weigert	...	Mormon Mother 4 episodes, 2003
Melissa Wilder	...	Louis's Sister 4 episodes, 2003
David Zayas	...	Super 4 episodes, 2003
Fatima Da Silva	...	Cousin Doris 4 episodes, 2003
Kevin 'Flotilla DeBarge' Joseph	...	Singer in Church 4 episodes, 2003
Sterling Brown	...	Orderly 4 episodes, 2003
Florence Kastriner	...	Louis' Mother 4 episodes, 2003
Lisa LeGuillou	...	Nurse 4 episodes, 2003
Howard Pinhasik	...	Louis' Father 4 episodes, 2003
Shawn Bartels	...	Mennonite Choir Members 4 episodes, 2003
Brian Dougherty	...	Mennonite Choir Members 4 episodes, 2003
Mary Esbjornson	...	Mennonite Choir Members 4 episodes, 2003
Barbara Fusco	...	Mennonite Choir Members 4 episodes, 2003
Serafina Martino	...	Mennonite Choir Members 4 episodes, 2003
Steven Edward Moore	...	Mennonite Choir Members 4 episodes, 2003
Christopher Schuman	...	Mennonite Choir Members 4 episodes, 2003
Reldalee Wagner	...	Mennonite Choir Members 4 episodes, 2003
Matthew Yohn	...	Mennonite Choir Members 4 episodes, 2003

Storyline

God has abandoned Heaven. It's 1985: the Reagans are in the White House and Death swings the scythe of AIDS. In Manhattan, Prior Walter tells Lou, his lover of four years, he's ill; Lou bolts. As disease and loneliness ravage Prior, guilt invades Lou. Joe Pitt, an attorney who is Mormon and Republican, is pushed by right-wing fixer Roy Cohn toward a job at the Justice Department. Both Pitt and Cohn are in the closet: Pitt out of shame and religious turmoil, Cohn to preserve his power and access. Pitt's wife Harper is strung out on Valium, aching to escape a sexless marriage. An angel invites Prior to be a prophet in death. Pitt's mother and Belize, a close friend, help Prior choose.

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Plot Keywords:

death | loneliness | valium | heaven | angel | 

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Taglines:

The messenger has arrived.

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Official Sites:

HBO

Country:

USA Italy

Language:

English Hebrew Aramaic Yiddish French

Release Date:

7 December 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Angels in America

Filming Locations:

Bethesda Fountain, Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Avenue Pictures, HBO Films, Panorama Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

352 min (6 parts)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a 2008 interview, Tony Kushner said that the idea to entwine Mormonism into the plot of "Angels in America" started when he saw some young, ignored Mormon missionaries near his home in Brooklyn: "There were these Mormon missionaries that I used to see at my subway stop, in Carroll Gardens, around 1983. One of them was, I thought, kind of hot. They were always there in the morning, in front of a bunch of people who could have cared less about the Book of Mormon. And I was kind of touched by that."

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Goofs

When Lou is saying kaddish for the dead Roy Cohn, Roy's mouth goes from open to closed to open again.

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Quotes

Roy Cohn: I have all the time in the world.
Ethel Rosenberg: You're immortal.
Roy Cohn: I'm immortal. Ethel. I have forced my way into history. I ain't never gonna die.
Ethel Rosenberg: History is about to crack wide open. Millenium approaches.

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Crazy Credits

Person Generally in Charge of Everything Aaron Geller

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Connections

Features The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952)

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Soundtracks

Shall We Gather At The River?
(hymn written in 1864)
Music and Lyrics by Robert Lowry (1826-1899)
Performed by Meryl Streep and choir

User Reviews

A Triumph In Every Way

Set in 1980s New York and subtitled "A Gay Fantasia on National Themes," the six-hour ANGELS IN America concerns a group of largely gay men who find themselves caught up in series of disasters that range from love to religion and from politics to philosophy--and most specifically caught between the rising tide of AIDS and a generally unsympathetic society.

In the midst of this, AIDS patient Prior Walter begins to have a series of visions, which may be fever dreams, medicine-induced hallucinations... or, most unnerving of all, real. His long dead ancestors rise to speak to him, the floor cracks open to reveal a burning book--and at the conclusion of the play's first half a beautiful woman with majestic wings crashes through his roof. She is the Angel of America. He is, she tells him, a prophet, and she has come to bring him a message for mankind.

Intertwined with Prior's other-earthly experiences are oddly parallel lives. Joe and Harper Pitt are a deeply dysfunctional couple doubting their faith in the Mormon Church, Joe a closeted homosexual, Harper a Valium-addicted and mildly psychotic woman given to visions as strange as those of Prior Walter's. And as further counterpoint historical figure Roy Cohn (1927-1986), among the most sinister figures of 20th Century America, finds himself taunted by the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg as he drifts toward his own AIDS-induced death. The characters swirl in and out of each other's lives and dreams, playing to stereotypes and yet defying them, arguing politics and philosophy and love and death--and it is fascinating stuff.

Although the play stunned 1990s audiences, most considered it utterly unfilmable due to both length and content. But this HBO-produced, Mike Nichols-directed version not only captures the power of the original, in some ways it improves upon it. Playwright Tony Kushner has adapted his work to the screen, rearranging certain problematic scenes and bits of dialogue to better effect, and certainly no one could argue with the cast, which is absolutely stunning in a series of multiple roles.

With a mad swirl of irony, intense drama, outrageous humor, and unexpected twists and turns, ANGELS IN America is almost sure to hold your attention--particularly if you recall the Ronald Reagan years well enough to recognize the truly bitter allegory the film offers on what many consider his largely absentee second term. Truly a must have, multi-layered, bearing repeated viewings, beautifully directed, performed, and filmed.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer