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Angel Heart (1987)

Rate: 6
Viewed: 4/07, 1/20

AngH
4/07: Angel Heart is almost similar to Vertigo: a slow build-up first, lacking a story for some time, and finally a wallop in the last fifteen minutes that says it all.

The ending is nice, but it's still a "huh?" picture. That being said, the blame is directed at Alan Parker who's mostly a hit-or-miss director because his films are substanceless fillers despite the initial raw power.

Mickey Rourke is fine and does a good job of not falling into the trap of a B-actor. With a grin, Robert De Niro makes a cameo that says, "Hey, look at me. I'm too fucking good for this shit."

All in all, Angel Heart is slow for ninety percent of the time but finally clears the bar when it's called for.

1/20: I'm dropping my rating of Angel Heart from '8' to '6'.

Alan Parker isn't a good director. As evidenced in Mississippi Burning, The Commitments, and Evita, the middle keeps going on and on. Although not as bad as anything by Michael Cimino, it's still pointless filler.

Reminding me heavily of Farewell, My Lovely, there's a heavy dose of snooping around with rocks turned over while people are killed left and right. With the twist given away in the first fifteen minutes, evoking a Faustian bargain, the ending, as the mystery finally wraps up, leaves me with a "huh?" feeling.

So, the film is telling me Harold Angel was Johnny Favorite the whole time? I guess cinema can be manipulated however these people behind the curtains want to, but that doesn't mean I must accept it. Heavily dependent on style, Alan Parker tries too hard to blend the supernatural with neo-noir but mostly fails. Like The Serpent and the Rainbow, the voodoo stuff is an excuse for the ignorant white men to exploit.

Mickey Rourke is fine. He tried his best with the material, but I don't think his heart was in it. Robert De Niro does what lazy big-time actors do: throw around his awesome weight of talent for a few scenes and then leave with a nice-sized paycheck. At least, he sports an interesting look along with his perfectly manicured long fingernails. You get to see Lisa Bonet naked if that strikes your fancy which got her fired from The Cosby Show. The rest of the cast is fair.

All in all, Alan Parker should've worked more on his directorial craft first, so his films will come off better.