City of Angels (1998)

Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

This is an excellent simple film based on raw human emotion. No trickery or CGI needed. This is by far Cage and Ryan's best film of all the films they've ever starred in my opinion. This movie is a total sleeper.I have watched this movie at least 20 times and it still has the same effect on me. It makes me shed tears uncontrollably and that says a lot for a film because I'm not an easy cry in film or life.This film should touch you at a level of humanity and frailty because it's something we all have in common no matter what walk of life you come from. Loving someone, loosing them, life and death is something we will all experience if blessed with that much time.***SPOILER ALERT***For some, time is not on their side as you saw with the child in the beginning of the film. For me the first tears flowed with the loss of the husband/father and how unexpected it was for the doctor let alone his grief stricken family.And then for an Atheist arrogant doctor to finally realize that she has no power to save life given all her education and hard work, that it is not up to her for someone to live. All she can do is the best she can do by her profession and let God's will be done is quite an interesting revelation.On a side note last year I was in a house fire and flat-lined within minutes of being handed off from the ambulance to the trauma unit. No pulse no respiratory...nothing. And in that moment the last thing I remember thinking was, i'm going to die and I'm not ready. After being resuscitated and awakening from a coma nearly 3 days later, I talked to the arrogant surgeon who felt I should acknowledge that he saved my life.If that were true by his account, then no one should ever die in emergency rooms. Like Seth's character says "people die when their bodies give out" and the good doctor Maggie replies "it's my job to keep their bodies from giving out, what am I doing here".I know that doctor played a small part in my still being here, but not in the way he thinks. He feels he intervened and restored my life. And that is where he is arrogant. It was God, who intervened and restored my life giving me more time. Had that not been God's will that flat-line would have been permanent and no amount of education, skill or technology would change that.That is what I like most about this film. "Some things are true whether you believe them or not". And when Seth finally reveals himself to Maggie she within an instant physically assaults him without even thinking about it. Her reaction is violent and typical given human beings fear and reject what they don't understand. For me, this was one of the best scenes in the film, though there were many.I don't know how I would respond if a man I was interested in dating,but had become suspicious about, (not because he was a cheat, a liar, a womanizer, but because of his awkward innocence and inexperience and questioning of the simplest things), like "what does a pear taste like". I don't know how I'd react if he revealed and proved himself to be an Angel of God that was in love with me.I'd probably feel ashamed, and wonder why something so perfect would have any feeling for something so flawed and tainted. But I can't honestly say whether or not I would have been afraid or reacted out of fear and become violent. I may have had a similar or worse reaction, like Maggie's character even more so because I do believe in God.For Seth who longed to be with Maggie and gave up eternity as an Angel/Messenger of God, for a short time only to end up being a weak, frail and vulnerable human being. Which so many things about being human are wonderful, like the sense of color, taste, touch smell, orgasm etc. And then for Seth to only have one night with Maggie before being alone in the world, in an lonely existence having no parents, siblings or "human" friends (With the exception of Messenger of course, who was a former celestial body himself). All things being equal and having there opposite/negative side their is much pain in the existence of a human life, mental, physical and spiritual if one is enlightened enough to know there is a spirit. We are not just the lump sum of micro organisms that evolved from pond scum and we are more than just physical cells under a microscope.There is more to life than the limitation of one's flesh. The spirit and the flesh are two separate things. Every time a body dies, a new body is born for which a spirit must reside.This movie touches me on so many levels and I hope it does for you as well if you are open to it. It is definitely a keeper, re- watcher and one of my top 10 in the DVD [email protected]

Released in 1998 and directed by Brad Silberling, "City of Angels" is a drama/fantasy/romance starring Nicolas Cage as a literal angel in Los Angeles named Seth who's assigned to bring the dead to God. During one of his assignments he meets and becomes intrigued by a doctor (Meg Ryan) and wonders what it would like to be human. Andre Braugher is on hand as Seth's angel friend while Dennis Franz plays a human in whom Seth seems to have an affinity. Will Seth "fall to the earth"? I saw this when I was younger and it didn't have much of an impact, although I liked it. Viewing it at an older age definitely heightened my appreciation and shows that this is a movie for mature people (regardless of what age). It skillfully touches on heavy issues of which younger people don't particularly dwell. Written by Dana Stevens and based on the 1987 film "Wings of Desire," everything depends on if the film can convince the viewer that the angels are real and believable in the context of the story. It does so convincingly with a tone similar to "Meet Joe Black," which was released (later) the same year as "City of Angels"; and maybe 1990's "Ghost." If you like these two movies you will definitely appreciate "City."I don't want to say anything more because it's better that you watch the movie and discover its potential riches for yourself. The script is well thought out, although they didn't milk the ending for all its potential, plus it seemed rather rushed, not to mention there are some theological holes. Regardless, this is a nigh spiritual masterpeace. (No, I didn't misspell that). The film runs 114 minutes and was shot in Los Angeles, Malibu, Big Bear Lake, Lake Tahoe and the San Francisco Public Library, California.GRADE: A-

This movie sucked ass because there was no fun. It also had bad acting. I hated the settings and the character plot. And I thought it was stupid to have angels come to life. It needs more bang to it. There was no fireworks. And I hated the bad storyline. The director needs to do better. I give it a 1 star. Not bad. But needs work. I think it needs Seth is an angel who accompanies the spirits of the recently dead to the ever after. Seth has never been human and so has has never experienced touch or taste. When in the hospital however he comes across Dr. Maggie Rice, a brilliant young heart surgeon who is devoted to her profession and her patients. Seth has the power to let himself be seen but Maggie finds him far too mysterious. Seth also meets a patient, Nathaniel Messinger, who has news for him - he too was once an angel like Seth but chose to fall to Earth and become human. Seth makes a decision on his future, which does not turn out as he had expected.

"I would rather have had one breath of her hair, one kiss of her mouth, one touch of her hand, than eternity without it. One."Brad Silberling's City of Angels isn't a film that seems to have aged well and perhaps it suffers a bit from the Nicholas Sparks syndrome we've been exposed to over recent years. I'm not bashing on Sparks because I was a fan of The Notebook, but his stories seem to have been recycled over recent years and its hard not to find them emotionally manipulative. That's the case with Silberling's film as well, it seems as it is trying to force a chemistry that isn't really perceivable. The film is a loose remake of Wim Wender's German film, "Wings of Desire," which I haven't seen but heard is far superior. After seeing City of Angels I honestly have no desire to watch the original. I felt like something was missing from this screenplay (adapted by Dana Stevens) and perhaps it was simply the cast, but I never found the romance behind this story believable. Costner did a much better job than Cage does here playing the lead character in Stevens's previous screenplay "For Love of the Game" which is a film I still admire despite its flaws. There was something about Cage's performance here that simply didn't resonate with me. I found his character more of a creepy stalker than anything else and his puppy dog eyes didn't change my perception either. Cage is a talented actor and there are a number of films where I've really enjoyed his performances, but this wasn't one of them. City of Angels introduces us to a guardian angel named Seth (Nicolas Cage) who watches over the people of Los Angeles along with many other angels. One day as he is sent to pick up a dying patient at a hospital he falls for a heart surgeon named Maggie (Meg Ryan). He is captivated by the way she fights for this patient's life and how his death affects her. He begins falling her around and after giving it some thought he allows her to see him. He's never experienced touch or feelings before so he asks her to describe everything around her, such as the taste of the pear she's eating and so on. He is surprised when one of her patients at the hospital senses his presence. Nathaniel Messinger (Dennis Franz) is a man who enjoys life to the fullest and while he is being treated at the hospital he acknowledges Seth's presence. He confesses that he was once an angel who decided to give up on eternal life as an angel to become human. When Seth realizes this is possible he begins to ponder whether or not he too should fall to Earth to be with the woman he has become enfatuated with.Silberling's film isn't simply a love story, it is a film about living life to its fullest and learning to appreciate the small things in life. That is what it tries to say anyway in a rather manipulative way through Cage's character. I think that the film misses its opportunity to explore love and how it is much deeper than a simple feeling. Seth was the perfect vehicle to explore this considering he could not feel anything but somehow he felt attracted to Maggie. Unfortunately the film doesn't explore this and it lacks that emotional impact that I though a film like this could deliver. The lack of a stronger chemistry between Ryan and Cage definitely hurts the film, but at least Dennis Franz elevates the material. It's a shame this is the last film he made considering he went on to work in NYPD Blue for more than a decade and has retired from acting since. He showed a lot of potential here playing a very different role. Andre Braugher also gets to share some scenes with Cage as one of his fellow angels as the two philosophize about life. After having been released over 15 years ago the greatest legacy this film has left is its soundtrack, which is easily recognizable thanks to its popular pop songs. http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/