Angel-A (2005)

A beautiful woman helps an inept scam artist get his game together.

Director:

Luc Besson

Writer:

Luc Besson

Stars:

Rie Rasmussen, Jamel Debbouze, Gilbert Melki

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jamel Debbouze	...	André Moussah
Rie Rasmussen	...	Angel-A
Gilbert Melki	...	Franck
Serge Riaboukine	...	Pedro
Akim Chir	...	Le chef des malfrats
Eric Balliet	...	Garde du corps Franck
Loïc Pora	...	Le malfrat #2
Venus Boone	...	La mère d'Angela
Jérôme Guesdon	...	Le malfrat #3
Michel Bellot	...	Le planton US
Michel Chesneau	...	Le flic commissariat
Olivier Claverie	...	Le sécrétaire US
Solange Milhaud	...	La femme de Saint-Lazare
Laurent Jumeaucourt	...	Le dragueur
Franck-Olivier Bonnet	...	Le dernier client

Storyline

André, a small-time ex-convict, seems to owe money to everyone in Paris, including a crime boss who promises to kill him if he doesn't repay him by midnight. After failing to find protection from the American embassy and the French police, a despairing André scrambles onto a bridge over the Seine, intending to leap to his death. He is surprised to see a tall, beautiful girl clinging to a rail on the same bridge, apparently preparing to end her life as well. She jumps, and he jumps too, suddenly resolving to save her life. After scrambling ashore, she tells him her name is Angel-A. Together, they take a cruise on the Seine, repay André's creditors, visit a Parisian nightspot, and more, as Angel-A helps André. He learns that for this purpose she has fallen out of the sky and into his life. André finds himself falling in love with this mysterious beauty.

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Plot Keywords:

seine | money | olive oil | blonde | loser | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexual content

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shot over a period of nine weeks.

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Goofs

When Andre climbs over the railing of the bridge, he's coat is fastened by a single button. Suddenly, when he watches the outgoing police car, there are more buttons fastened.

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Quotes

Angel-A: If I give you my life, would you know what to do with it?
André: If you give a donkey a carrot, he'll know what to do with it.

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Connections

References The Godfather (1972)

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Soundtracks

"Crossroads
Performed by Eat

User Reviews

Happiness is not in heaven

Director Luc Besson is quoted as saying, "Cinema never saved anyone's life, it is not a medicine that will save anyone's life. It is only an aspirin." That doesn't mean we don't sometimes like our aspirin in posh packaging and that's exactly what we get with Besson's new movie, his first directorial venture for six years.

Angel-A is a romantic comedy shot in black and white and with subtitles. While it is not entirely without merit, the fancy wrapper, illustrated with a plentiful helping of Parisian photo-opportunities, should not lull you into believing you are watching of film of real quality or substance. While there is a great mish-mash of talent scattered throughout, I found myself wishing for the first half that a Hollywood re-make could edit the jokes with better comic timing. "Your problem is that you're always running instead of hitting pause," the leggy blonde heroine (Angela) tells our forsaken and suicidal André, and that's exactly what it feels like as the verbal jokes are disgorged on an audience without time to digest or appreciate them, and the slapstick is wasted from lack of pacing.

Fortunately things do get better, especially as we are made privy to Angela's mission. Having picked up some emotional ballast, the jokes have more to reverberate off. The best bit, after being given a mission, she tells him, is going to wardrobe - on this occasion she has decided to do "slut" - which she pulls off very convincingly (although when she turns her hand to beating up bad guys she reminded me more of the deadly android Pris from Bladerunner).

Angela's rather more-than-human task could easily have descended into farce, but Besson cleverly chooses the moment of revelation to get more serious. From hereon in, the movie gets more interesting, throwing in gender psychology and marginally more intellectual challenges. "I am you," she tells him - he may be a man on the outside but inside he's just a six-foot slut. The emptiness of the opening section makes this intense characterisation welcome and I could eat up such pretentious lines and the tearful looks with glee. It even makes sure it doesn't take itself too seriously (the line follows on from a scene where André is getting changed in a women's toilet and Angela counters an elderly lady's vexation by insisting, "He's a woman really", implying he's transsexual.) Although Angel-A has 'strong language and sex references' justifying its '15' certificate, there's no nudity and we are left wondering if even the sex scenes were in our imagination. Besson does succeed in getting us to think about Angels - as well as Fallen Angels, Falling in Love, and Why do Angels Need to Eat a Calcium-Rich Diet; but the idea of angels shedding some divine light into the life of mortals is heavily polluted with selfish wish-fulfilment. In the Bible, angels were originally 'sons of God' who came to earth to sire children on mortal women. Later, they were called demons, 'fallen' angels, until the Book of Enoch cut to the chase in true patriarchal fashion and blamed women for the angels' fall. Here they ask us if happiness is not, indeed, in heaven. A 2005 Harris Poll showed that 68% of Americans believe in angels (rising to nearly 80% in the less educated), suggesting that the film will be further 'cleaned up' for any American re-make. Until then, if Angel-A is not exactly the classic it aspires to be, it's quirkier and classier than the average chick-flick and should be enjoyed as such. Much could be said in criticism of it, but for such a relatively humble offering it could be more divine to forgive.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [France]

Country:

France

Language:

French Spanish

Release Date:

21 December 2005 (France)

Also Known As:

Ангел-А

Filming Locations:

Montmartre, Paris 18, Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

EUR15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$29,727, 27 May 2007

Gross USA:

$202,647

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$9,995,168

Company Credits

Production Co:

EuropaCorp, TF1 Films Production, Apipoulaï

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX DTS-ES

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1