Angel-A (2005)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Sergio G

  
  Not all Luc Besson's movies like me. But this one is great. I laugh like crazy. It's a comedy/drama very good told. it should be remembered as a classic even whe the critics think is so bad. Or may be that I just like corny and funny movies with good FX. Who knows!

• Brian D

  
  Weclome return for luc besson being you here a small and nicely crafed movie with to fine performances keeping the story moving.Shoot in Black and white and in paris this as a lot of chram there is'nt much going on but its the two leads that keeps the film alive and very… More
  Weclome return for luc besson being you here a small and nicely crafed movie with to fine performances keeping the story moving.Shoot in Black and white and in paris this as a lot of chram there is'nt much going on but its the two leads that keeps the film alive and very watchable.Recommand to all luc besson fan .

• Alexander W

  
  I liked it, good film. Reminded me of my times in Paris, and how such a romantic city it is. C'est La Vie. B&W, English subtitiles.

• Anthony L

  
  A welcome return from Luc Besson the director. A well acted and beautifully filmed love story, although the story was slightly predictable and slightly flawed it really is a fantastic contemporary version of a classic story. More please Mr Besson!

• xGary X

  
  When a downtrodden small timer tries to kill himself when faced with insurmountable debts, he meets his guardian angel in the form of a statuesque beauty. Beautifully photographed in and around Paris, Angel-A sees Luc Besson returning to the familiar territory of French cinema in… More
  When a downtrodden small timer tries to kill himself when faced with insurmountable debts, he meets his guardian angel in the form of a statuesque beauty. Beautifully photographed in and around Paris, Angel-A sees Luc Besson returning to the familiar territory of French cinema in which beautiful but insane women always seem to fall for ugly French wasters! Rie Rasmussen's picture is probably filed under the word "goddess" in Wikipedia, and she shows some great talent for comedy with her character who is a cross between Clarence from It's A Wonderful Life and the ghost of Christmas present from Scrooged. Her "alternative" strategies when it comes to dealing with a suitably down at heel Jamel Debbouze's problems makes for some nice laughs and it has an easy and pleasant charm that is all too often missing from its schmaltz infested American counterparts. The plot is intriguing until the end, where it unfortunately falls down with an easy but unsatisfying resolution to supply the (decidedly un-French) happy ending, but it is still an engaging if lightweight little fantasy.

• Lady D

  
  A film that progressively satisfies, the further you watch and is full of metaphorical value. Quirky, yet grounded (as much as a story about an Angel can be). Great characters, enjoyable storyline, something that reminded me in it?s theme to ?It?s a Wonderful Life?.

• El Hombre I

  
  Acclaimed writer/director Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, Leon, and The Fifth Element) returns to live action filmmaking with Angel-A for the first time since 1999's misfire "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc" with mixed results. Filmed in beautiful black and white… More
  Acclaimed writer/director Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, Leon, and The Fifth Element) returns to live action filmmaking with Angel-A for the first time since 1999's misfire "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc" with mixed results. Filmed in beautiful black and white photography, and very nice performances by the leads, it's never boring. In fact, it's almost impossible to take your eyes off of it, even when it gets a tiny bit silly. At times it seems it was written and directed by an over-anxious sexually-frustrated 15-year-old boy with the sleaze and tease factor and the way some issues were resolved. However, along with the two leads, the real treat is Paris seen through wonderful camerawork. Still very much worth watching for Besson's talent and craft that shows in his recurring theme of a beautiful woman saving a man from himself. Besson says he will retire after directing 10 films...I, for one, hope not. <a href="http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/?action=view&current=angel-a.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/angel-a.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

• Kylie B

  
  Lovely. I was unsure whether black and white would really work for me, but it made the visuals more arresting not to be distracted by colour, especially in the case of Angela herself.

• Curtis L

  
  I expected more from Luc Besson. It was neat for the first half, then it became predictable garbage.

• Jason S

  
  I liked the look of the movie and how simple it was. It was a true character study. The two actors were good on screen together and the contrast in their appearance worked very well for the message it was trying to tell. It was a weird movie that some may not like for it is slow and… More
  I liked the look of the movie and how simple it was. It was a true character study. The two actors were good on screen together and the contrast in their appearance worked very well for the message it was trying to tell. It was a weird movie that some may not like for it is slow and there is a lot of talking but I was entertained and thought it was well made. Also the effects near the end of the movie were not bad at all for such a small film.

• William D

  
  [size=3]Angel-A is not intellectually stimulating. It doesn't break new ground artistically. It explores themes as old as the hills. But its tender story of broken people longing to heal and to believe in themselves captivated me and left me emotionally moved and ultimately… More
  [size=3]Angel-A is not intellectually stimulating. It doesn't break new ground artistically. It explores themes as old as the hills. But its tender story of broken people longing to heal and to believe in themselves captivated me and left me emotionally moved and ultimately exhilarated. I loved every minute of it.[/size] [img]http://movies.go.com/i/movies/855073/gallery/angela_1.jpg[/img] [size=3]I can say with confidence that it will become one of my all-time favorite films. I predict that I'll want to watch it every year or so to bask in its tender-heartedness and to keep myself emotionally tuned up, remembering the simple truths in life.[/size] [size=3]Jamel Debbouze (who was unforgettable in Indigenes, one of my Top 10 movies of 2006 and an Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film) plays a down-on-his-luck Morroccan-born man in Paris. He owes a ton of money to several loan sharks and is on the verge of being killed by the dastardly demi-mondaines to whom he owes so many euros.[/size] [size=3]He starts to become suicidal and finds himself on the edge of a bridge looking down at the Seine. Suddenly he notices a woman who looks like a super-model on the bridge with him, seeming to be contemplating suicide as well. They exchange a nicely comic bit of dialogue (despite the grimness, the script never loses its sense of humor), and suddenly she's leaping into the abyss and he's jumping in after her.[/size] [size=3]He rescues her and so begins a beguiling story about overcoming hardship and learning to love yourself, with a spiritual twist to the story that is no doubt hackneyed but charming just the same.[/size] [size=3]I walked out of the theater repeating some of the most memorable lines to myself. In fact, it's been several days since I've seen it, and I'm still mumbling the lines to myself from time to time throughout the day. This film has stayed with me in a way that is remarkable.[/size] [size=3]One scene in particular gripped me. I keep seeing it in my mind's eye. The photo above is taken from that scene. The two characters are looking into a gorgeous, huge mirror. She is encouraging him to say "I love you" to himself. He is tortured by this, and it is very sweet watching him struggle with it. He does eventually say it, and the transformation he experiences in his giant open eyes is one of the best silent poems I've ever seen.[/size] [size=3]Thank you, Jamel Debbouze and Rie Rasmussen for these beautiful performances, and thank you Luc Besson for giving us this tender, loving film about human frailty.[/size] [img]http://w5.montreal.com/arts_ent/film/angel_a_poster2.jpg[/img]

• Antony S

  
  VERY undersold by the media, recieving mostly lukewarm praise at best, Angel-A for me at least marked the return of one of France's most important directors. A highly offbeat tragi-comedy, Angel-A concerns a hapless Parisian (Amelie's Jamel Debbouze) seeking respite from a… More
  VERY undersold by the media, recieving mostly lukewarm praise at best, Angel-A for me at least marked the return of one of France's most important directors. A highly offbeat tragi-comedy, Angel-A concerns a hapless Parisian (Amelie's Jamel Debbouze) seeking respite from a leggy blonde after he gets into hot water with the local mob. The plot (sporadic to some, very involving to me) illustrates Debbouze's existential malaise, the titular character's seeming prostitution in order to help him out, the inner workings of the mafia, and later Rasmussen's alarming identity (which invites welcome comparison to It's A Wonderful Life and Wings Of Desire). Besson directs with a steady hand, throwing up the sort of thoroughly gorgeous visuals that only The City Of Love could offer. Beautiful, surprisingly hilarious, sexy and heartbreaking, Angel-A marks Besson's stunning return to form.

• Mark A

  
  I love to read a good movie. This one had it all: beautiful scenery, a beautiful woman, drama, comedy, a powerful love story, fantasy elements. Jamel Debbouze is forever typecast as the flawed anti-hero, but so what? He does it so well. And Rie Rasmussen. Wow! What a beauty! I found… More
  I love to read a good movie. This one had it all: beautiful scenery, a beautiful woman, drama, comedy, a powerful love story, fantasy elements. Jamel Debbouze is forever typecast as the flawed anti-hero, but so what? He does it so well. And Rie Rasmussen. Wow! What a beauty! I found it easy to suspend disbelief and become absorbed in the story. Yes, the ending was cheesy. I don't see that as a negative. The ending fit the story. Even a loser like Andre can find love and life in the hands of an angel.

• Walter M

  
  [font=Century Gothic]With his latest film, "Angel-A," writer-producer-director Luc Besson takes another shot at the divine secrets of sisterhood(I've heard of putting women on a pedestal...) while eschewing his usual fireworks and body count, instead going for a rather… More
  [font=Century Gothic]With his latest film, "Angel-A," writer-producer-director Luc Besson takes another shot at the divine secrets of sisterhood(I've heard of putting women on a pedestal...) while eschewing his usual fireworks and body count, instead going for a rather austere black and white look(the awesome cinematography is by Thierry Arbogast). However, there is no imagination on display, a sight gag is stretched past its breaking point and a lot of dialogue goes around in circles which is neither profound or interesting. The movie tells the story of Andre(Jamel Debbouze), a twenty-three time loser and congenital liar who owes money to every loanshark in the metropolitan Paris area who all threaten him physically. For some odd reason, this causes him to attempt to jump off a not-very-high bridge which is rudely interrupted when Angela(Rie Rasmussen) jumps off the same bridge and he has to save her.(Stop me if any of this sounds familiar.) [/font][font=Century Gothic]See, Angela is an angel, sent for some odder reason to help Andre and Angela does almost all of the heavy lifting(I thought heaven would have labor laws against this kind of thing. Certainly by now, Mother Jones should have organized the angels, right?) instead of letting him make his own decisions, so he can learn where he went wrong. [/font]

• William G

  
  Original or not, gorgeous to look at and pervasively charming.

• Marcus W

  
  Black and white, French, independent films. Something I usually avoid like a disease. Except it's a Besson film. There may not be any "The Stath" driving cars down elevators, but it's still a pretty damn decent film until the third-act when the love story and… More
  Black and white, French, independent films. Something I usually avoid like a disease. Except it's a Besson film. There may not be any "The Stath" driving cars down elevators, but it's still a pretty damn decent film until the third-act when the love story and melodrama completely ruin it.

• Bill C

  
  Subtract away the beautiful Rie Rasmussen and the beautiful Paris Back drop and this movie is a less engaging ?Heaven Can Wait? style movie. But Luc really does Paris up in grand fashion. Rie Rasmussen is surprisingly convincing as an actress up till the end. The plot pivots on Jamel… More
  Subtract away the beautiful Rie Rasmussen and the beautiful Paris Back drop and this movie is a less engaging ?Heaven Can Wait? style movie. But Luc really does Paris up in grand fashion. Rie Rasmussen is surprisingly convincing as an actress up till the end. The plot pivots on Jamel Debboze a small time criminal who?s borrowed allot of money from many different bad guys they all want there money back. He has right arm that is disabled in some way but it is never stated. For this movie to work you have to first feel sorry for him, I didn?t and then you have to believe he can overcome his previous bad acts. I didn?t. Rie Rasmussen is an angel who is sent to save him, but is not allowed to tell him who she is. So?.she tells him who she is. At apparently six feet Plus tall she towers over the diminutive Debboze in a let the world be your gynecologist dress and Knock me over and hug me 4 inch stilettos. There are some twist in the plot that are somewhat Douglas Adams-ish, but the end is very unfulfilling. It?s worth a watch and I doubt it will make it to cable so take a look.

• Sarah B

  
  Too sweetness and light which jars with the bursts of violence, black and white style and shoe-horned gritty realism. Still, a very brave attempt at modernising It's a Wonderful Life with a great antihero to follow and a captivatingly naive and innocent pneumatic blonde. Just… More
  Too sweetness and light which jars with the bursts of violence, black and white style and shoe-horned gritty realism. Still, a very brave attempt at modernising It's a Wonderful Life with a great antihero to follow and a captivatingly naive and innocent pneumatic blonde. Just wish it was up to Besson's best.

• FanGirl B

  
  Delightfully wimsical! I loved this movie.

• Janice :

  
  Intriguing, mysterious, seductive, and the list continues. A heart-warming little film sprinkled with cues of Angela's mystical nature and a dash of light humour. Despite critics I have read previously, I thought the black and white style of this film was aesthestically… More
  Intriguing, mysterious, seductive, and the list continues. A heart-warming little film sprinkled with cues of Angela's mystical nature and a dash of light humour. Despite critics I have read previously, I thought the black and white style of this film was aesthestically pleasing to the eye. And after a second thought, it couldn't have been in colour. Just couldn't have. I suspect Luc Besson of utilizing the colour settings as a mode of emphasizing the magic realism of the story - namely Angela, whose blonde mane and little black dress stood out. Especially impressed with Jamel Debbouze who is usually specialized at making the public laugh. He showed us a more serious side of him, capable of doing some mature stuff. Overall great film from Luc Besson that I encourage fans and non-fans alike to view multiple times so as to pick up on the subleties hidden all throughout. This is beautiful. End of story.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings