Angel's Dance

Sheryl Lee carries the first few minutes of this movie.

Her character is a rather strange young lady. ( Angel ) When James Belushi ( The Rose ) shows up things really get started.

The hitman training is strange to say the least, I guess most of us just don't think like that, and the characters all change though-out this movie. Sheryl Lee & James Belushi are both great in this movie.

Maybe there should be a sequel The Angel & The Rose it might be interesting,

A well done mob Hitman action flick. Check out the license # of the car at the end............

Jim Belushi's movie to carry, it appears, but what it slowly becomes is a character portrait of the rebirth of a lost soul. Sheryl Lee as 'Angel', at first somewhat amusing as an eccentric mortician, becomes the real center of the film in her transformation from freaked-out ditz to a woman in control of her own destiny. I found her character fascinating, and the interplay between her and Belushi is like watching a dance with strangers evolve into an odd interplay of almost-love. Detached from the get-go, that same detachment carries Angel through to the end. And it's Belushi's character, the "Rose", who gets sucked up in the surprising finale. Quite frankly, this is a good watch.

I discovered this movie on HBO late late one night, and was pleasantly surprised. What starts out as a typical mob movie, with greasy hit men and fat Godfathers in Chicago, quickly turns unconventional with a change of scene to California. Our "heroine" in the movie (Lee) is a social recluse who dresses stiffs at the mortuary, while the "master" hit man (Belushi) surfs and eats tofu. Lee's character quickly goes from being the hunted to the hunter, which is the best part of the movie. Very entertaining to watch!

Well... I guess there can be something said for an HBO "free preview"! I caught this film totally by accident during one of HBO's free weekends. I must agree with the other users, that the film did lag a bit in the beginning. But being a Jim Belushi fan, I decided to stick it out. I was NOT disappointed! Although the acting was far from academy award quality, Belushi and a very well written script continued to hold my attention. If you get a chance to catch this one, DO IT! It's really well worth it!

Amazingly the little known Kyle Chandler is now playing a major role in Peter Jackson's King Kong. So perhaps now Angel's Dance will get minor recognition. Featuring Backbeat's Sheryl Lee and the jobbing James Belushi (as potential victim and professional hit-man respectively) this small B-picture is surprisingly watchable and at times darkly humouress.

Opening with Jon Polito (in a familiar role established better in Miller's Crossing) sending a trainee hit-man to go with the best in the business to learn the ropes. For 'The Rose' (Belushi) this means teaching Tony (Chandler) to let go of any morals he once had and picks a random name from a phone book as the target. Neither one of them could predict that the target (Lee) would fight back with terminal force.

Offbeat, quirky and with some decent action scenes (and some good costumes to boot) this is yet another film that won't be seen by most, but will be appreciated by most that do. Surely Belushi is long over due another half decent role like this, perhaps Tarantino will remember him in years to come...