Popcorn Reviews With Cybèle: City of Angels 

By Cybèle Elaine Werts  
CybeleW@aol.com

Popcorn Kernel Rating: 2 1/2 Kernels - yes, you will enjoy the movie. But no, it ain’t great art.

Twenty minutes into City of Angels, I was weeping. My friend was weeping. The audience was weeping. Who could help it? This movie touches every human being’s deepest fears: Will I be loved? Is someone looking out for me, protecting me? What happens when I die? Considering this, it was no surprise that there was little audience chit chat for two hours. If you like a four hanky movie - you’ll like City of Angels.

But then, I started thinking. What would this movie be without all the emotional hoopla? I thought and thought, and came up with the conclusion: not much. The main thing I like about City of Angels is that it deals with serious questions about love, about God. That’s rare. But it also takes the easy way out. Yes, one true love exists just for you. Yes, angels are watching out and protecting you. Yes, God exists. It’s easy to say Yes to people’s fears.

Then, for a movie that’s about emotion, you’ve got Seth, (Nicolas Cage) with a face set in a deadpan expression that just won’t budge, as an angel out protecting God’s flock. Sure, he’s not supposed to have feelings, so therefore he doesn’t have expressions. But since he does fall in love with one of his charges, Dr. Maggie Rice (Meg Ryan) one would hope for a little smile sometimes. Forget it - his face is stuck in distressed golden retriever mode. And while Meg Ryan’s acting was quirky and expressive as usual, it didn’t inspire me half as much as her character in Courage Under Fire. And just for the record, those legions of black trench coated angels reminded me too much of Men in Black. If they’d donned sunglasses I would have been ready for Will Smith to leap out and give Meg Ryan a big old smackeroo. Still, I enjoyed City of Angels, and you probably will too.

Suggested Gustatorial Accompaniment: Angel food cake, what else?

Copyright 2000