Angel Eyes

I have to admit two things, one is that I'm not a big Jennifer Lopez fan. Secondly, she's very good in this film. The film opens at the scene of a car accident and a female police officer (Lopez) is telling the survivor who is all banged up that everything will be okay and to look at her. Then the film shifts to a year later and Officer Sharon Pogue is a Chicago cop who doesn't relate well to others except other cops and hates the whole dating process. While in a diner with her fellow officers she notices a man (James Caviezel) across the street looking at her and then suddenly a car drives by and starts shooting the place up. Sharon takes chase after the car crashes and chases a youth down into a secluded area when she is ambushed and the youth gets her gun and is ready to kill her when out of the blue the man who was staring comes out and saves her.

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

Later in a bar she meets him again and talks to him. She asks him his name and all he says is "Catch". She's intrigued by him and he says he likes her but he says very little about himself. He wanders the streets a lot and also helps a handicapped woman named Elanora (Shirley Knight) with groceries. Meanwhile, Sharon has family trouble and her parents (Sonia Braga and Victor Argo) are going to renew their vows and she's not sure if she should go. When she was a young girl she called the police on her abusive father when he was beating her mother and after all these years he still has not forgiven her.

This film was directed by Luis Mandoki who also has shown in earlier efforts that he has a good flair for portraying relationships with believable emotional attachments. The problem is the area of the story surrounding Catch. We know right from the get-go who he is and what he's hiding. The film goes just a tad too long and of course there is an upbeat ending. I think it would have been totally appropriate to have a more open ending with some questions on the future of the characters. But the film is enhanced by a very good performance by Lopez. Not only is she believable as a tough cop but we can understand her emotional problems dealing with others. Its a performance that rings true and reminded me of why so many people are intrigued by her. Her character is the core of the film (not Catch) and she does a terrific job of balancing her emotions between the tough cop and the lonely and vulnerable woman. This isn't a great film by any stretch of the imagination but it is an underrated one. One of Lopez's shining moments.

So let me set the scene here, I was in a motel, in the middle of nowhere, and was flicking through the channels of the limited cable that the motel offered... I spotted Jim Caveizel (or however on earth you spell his name) and put down the remote as he is an actor that I admire and respect. Of course JLo then came into the scene and my instinct was to pick up the remote and flick the channel but I didn't and I am glad that I made that decision. Not being a fan of JLo I have never seen Angel Eyes and had no reason to seek it out either on video or on the TV but hell when you are in a motel with limited cable options you don't have alot of choice right? Nevertheless, I was thoroughly delighted that I left the remote where it was and watched this movie because in the end I loved it. I loved it more for the subtle points than the big "hollywood this is a romance you better weep points." "Hang up and I'll call your machine" in this day and age how relevant is that? how many people (if they would be honest) would much rather talk to a machine than the person because it is impersonal and they can save face? The teeny tiny aspect of him playing the notes of the trumpet on her back as they were dancing... okay so I am married to a musician so that resonates with me but it spoke volumes, no matter how much he had tried to block it out, his soul was still there, and in his soul was his music. I thought both leads played their roles with skill and conviction. I was never quite sure (until the end of course) if Catch was a good guy or a bad guy, and I liked the fact that it kept me guessing. As I said I am not a JLo fan, in fact I could be described as quite the opposite but in this movie she played her part beautifully, with conviction and totally believably. Jim Caveizel as always was understated, calm and played his role with a sympathy that is rare to see. Loved this movie, and cannot wait to see it again. I will agree with everyone however about the advertising hype that surrounded it, they ended up portraying it as a psychological thriller, if they had stayed true to the story and advertized it for what it was, a beautiful romance, I think it would not have died as it did. Shame on the publicity people for burying such a fine film.

I found this movie really engaging, even though it's imperfect directorially. Much of my admiration, though, may be because I fell madly in love with Jim Caviezel and his quiet, handsome, troubled but gently noble character (so bear that in mind!)...

Jennifer Lopez did very well - a sparky performance as always. Her police officer role appears to come very naturally to her, and the pairing is interesting with the initially mysterious Caviezel character.

Overall this movie may not win awards, but the lead characters are well drawn and their developing relationship is engaging, unpredictable and endearingly life-like. It's a nice romantic movie which draws you in.

Do you remember the previews for Angel Eyes? Many of us don't. What few of us remember is a 30 second preview that ran only a handful of times that showed Jennifer Lopez as a female cop. That was it. Na drama, no emotion, the previews told the audience a story about a female police officer, nothing else. This is probably the biggest reason why nobody went to see this movie when it went to the cinema. Only when it hit the video stores, did people start wo watch. A beautiful film, Angel Eyes is a romance. Dealing with redemption, it deals with many degrees of love and hope. In fact, many people detail Jennifer Lopez as "Angel Eyes." This is not true. Take a deeper look and you will see that James Caviezel is the true Angel Eyes.

I have to say I can't believe some of the reviews I've read of this film here. I thought this film was extremely well acted, had an original story line, and a quirky but interesting script. I'm impressed by Jennifer Lopez's acting, James Caviezel's interpretation was fantastic and there was great chemistry between them on the set. I was intrigued right throughout. It was well-paced, and just had a good feel about it, something which I find is missing in 95% of films being made these days. 9 out of 10.