Angel Eyes (2001)
by Christina M. Swosinski

The beautiful Jennifer Lopez is definitely worth watching, but is this movie?

Angel Eyes revolves around Sharon Pogue (Lopez) who is a tough talking, no-nonsense Chicago cop. With a troubled family life from the past that still conflicts with the present, Sharon finds it impossible to trust and let down her guard in any aspect of her life. She lacks a certain femininity in the beginning of the film that slowly fades away as time progresses or shall we say as the "walls come down." So how does this tough woman become more of a lady and let the love shine in? Well, it's due in part to a stranger known by dual names Catch and/or Steve Lambert (Jim Caviezel - The Thin Red Line), who saves her from a near fatal shooting. Sharon has no idea where Catch came from or why he was there at that exact minute, but she finds the mysterious man intriguing and allows him into her life.

The mystery unfolds as Sharon and Catch form a relationship. Both characters have personal demons that need to be dealt with. Everyone seems to have a secret in the movie. One of the big questions deal with Sharon's estrangement from her family. Another is Catch's lack of family, or last name for that matter. All of these problems are dealt with, but not necessarily resolved. Sonia Braga and Victor Argo are convincing as Sharon's parents, with whom a subplot of domestic violence is revealed. Screenwriter Gerald DiPego (Message In A Bottle, Phenomenon) worked hard to bring many heart felt emotions to life in this film. Director Luis Mandoki did his part to portray them accurately.

The way a movie flows is equally important as the plot. The beginning of the movie was fast paced and intriguing. The first ten minutes did it's job and reeled me in wanting more. Unfortunately, after about the first thirty minutes I had the whole film figured out and the excitement was gone.

The fast paced scenes diminished and I heard the faint sounds of fizzling in my ear. We were able to pick up on a couple of editing flaws as well. For a $30 million dollar movie, they should have had enough funds to hire someone to do a good job and think beyond the obvious. Also, the movie is set in Chicago but filmed in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. I was wondering why I had never seen that beautiful state park in Chicago before. That was unrealistic in my book. Don't play it off as Chicago when it's obviously not.

Yes, it's wrong to mislead viewers, but I think the most misleading verbage about the Angel Eyes lies in its classification of genre. The trailers had me believing it was a thriller/ suspense. In reality it's nothing more than a long, drawn out love story. Don't get me wrong, it's not the worst film I've seen lately. I chuckled here and there and was drawn into it in the beginning. However, I certainly won't be paying full ticket price to see it again. I probably won't even rent it when it comes out on video. My advice would be not to go see this movie if you are sleepy. You might not make it through the whole thing.

Christina M. Swosinski is a freelance writer, film lover and student living in Florida.