From Amazon.com
Tony Kushner's prize-winning play
Angels in America became the defining theatrical event of the 1990s, an astonishing mix of philosophy, politics, and vibrant gay soap opera that summed up the Reagan era for an entire generation of theater-goers. Post-9/11 would seem to be too late for a film version--philosophy and politics don't always age well--but this 2003 HBO adaptation, ably directed by Mike Nichols (
The Graduate), provides a time capsule of the '80s and reveals the deep emotional subcurrents that will give the play lasting power.
The story centers around Prior Walter (Justin Kirk) and Louis Ironson (Ben Shenkman), a gay couple that falls apart when Prior grows ill as a result of AIDS. But cancer is not the only thing invading Prior's life: He begins to have religious visions of an angel (Emma Thompson, Sense and Sensibility) announcing that he is a prophet. Louis, who doesn't cope well with disease and suggestions of mortality, leaves and starts a relationship with Joe Pitt (Patrick Wilson), a closeted Mormon who works for Roy Cohn (Al Pacino, Dog Day Afternoon)--the real-life right-wing lawyer, notorious for his ruthless behind-the-scenes machinations. Add in Joe's depressed and hallucinating wife Harper (Mary Louise Parker, Fried Green Tomatoes), his determined but open-minded mother Hannah (Meryl Streep, Adaptation), a fierce drag queen/nurse named Belize (Jeffrey Wright, Basquiat, reprising his celebrated performance from the Broadway production), and you've still only begun to discover the wealth of characters and storylines in Kushner's ambitious work.
The powerhouse cast (also featuring James Cromwell, Michael Gambon, and Simon Callow) is uniformly superb. The script has its weaknesses--some of the fantastic elements, including Prior's journey to Heaven towards the end, fall flat--but even what doesn't work is bristling with ideas and a ferocious desire to capture human existence in this time and place. --Bret Fetzer
Review
Billing itself as a major television event, Tony Kushner's award-winning play Angels in America is an ambitious project, to say the least. Fortunately, it's directed by theatrically trained veteran filmmaker Mike Nichols (who's enjoyed much success with stage-to-screen adaptations ever since his first film, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, in 1966). As a six-hour epic aired in two long segments, Angels marked a scheduling precedent on HBO. Such a huge project is destined to become overwhelming, and this is no exception. The high language, splashy special effects, and supernatural dream logic are surely too much for the casual cable TV viewer. However, those who appreciated the Broadway smash in 1993 will most likely be delighted by the careful construction and presentation of the source material in this version. Although it's quite a task to top the original Tony-winning Broadway actors, this cast is full of well-known names who are up to the challenge. Two of the biggest stars on the roster, Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson, seem to be having the most fun in their showy multiple roles. Thompson gets to shout flowery lines while in midair, and Streep is just a doll as the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg. As Roy Cohn, Al Pacino gets to play yet another despicable creature, while Mary-Louise Parker is as good as ever playing a long-suffering wife. Relative newcomers Justin Kirk, Patrick Wilson, and Ben Shenkman are all appropriately handsome leads involved in a love triangle, while Jeffrey Wright trumps them all by reprising his stage role of down-to-earth yet flamboyant nursemaid Belize. All of the performers are top-notch at delivering Kushner's poetic prose. Admittedly, it's difficult to view the subject matter in light of the political era in which it was written -- especially given that the state of the world has since worsened (considering the role that AIDS, conservative politics, and religious intolerance have played since the '80s). When seen as a period piece, however, Angels in America is a beautifully excessive drama that seems to have arrived at just the right time. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
DVD ~ Meryl Streep
DVD ~ Meryl Streep
DVD ~ Jack Nicholson
DVD ~ Meryl Streep
DVD ~ Meryl Streep
