Customer Reviews

Avenging Angelo

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

In my view this is far from being as terrible as some reviewers suggest. In fact I can honestly say I enjoyed both Sylvester Stallone and Madelaine Stowe, whose chemistry was obvious and very pleasant. The plot is not as good as the acting, which is subtle and fun, but even when the story hits low points it's all in a light comedic spirit so who really cares. Good job Sly.

It is so strange for a famous actor like Stallone to play as bad as Stowe; may be it is competition between them to make you exhausted of watching this film. This boring story is about a bodyguard, which has been repeated in different films many times. The worst is the director who could not manage the film. After 15 minutes it made me sleep. I regret for the money that I paid for the DVD.

This film is so stupid and pointless it's no wonder it went straight to video and it's hurting Stallone's Career. Stallone
plays Frankie Delano a hitman who works for mob boss Angelo(Last Performence from legendary actor Anthony Quinn) whose job is to watch over his boss's daughter (Madeline Stowe) And after Angleo is gunned down in a restauraunt Delano Confronts Angelo's daughter and tells her who he really is and that her father was mob boss. Then Later she decides to accept her herritage and avenge her father's death with Delano. Quite Simply a lame moronic script with no story structure whatsoever, in one scene Stallone pushes an intruder off a balconey The Next Stallone is trying to teach Stowe how to walk with attitude. The Movie Goes from action to comedy, to romance, to plain slapstick with the fight scenes so bad and the acting worse you begin to cringe thinking why is
Stallone trying to wreck his carrer on purpose. As for Madeline stowe who is a great actress in her own right made such a stupid mistake taking part in this mismatched film. This film Has to be
#1 on Stallone's Worst Films Of My Career List.

Where should I start...Anthony Quinn was incoherent and difficult to understand...someone put him out of his misery and have him retire already....Stalone...well the name speaks for itself...Madeline ... why oh why did you get mixed up in this project??? Has your career come to an end?? Sylvester is obviously, finally off the steriods, because in this movie, he was so thin and drawn. He hardly had any muscle mass. It did not look like him...is he wearing a wig in this movie? One time box-office attractions got together and made this movie. WHY WHY WHY??? I want my money back, I want my 90 minutes of my life back. G A R B A G E and jokes were very corny. Stallone looked like he was sleeping half the time.

I have enjoyed being surprised by this poorly titled movie. If you want a very nice surprise, then this it. It isn't an action movie it is a romantic comedy and it does a very good job. The writing, camera shots, music all done very well. I am glade I took a chance and bought this movie. This movie once people get past the bad title and the bad outline of the movie they will say wow! I wasn't expecting that! Wow!

"Avenging Angelo" is a fairly good movie, but one I enjoyed despite its shortcomings. It will forever be remembered as the last film of Anthony Quinn's long and illustrious career. Quinn does a good job of playing the mobster with a heart. Sylvester Stallone looks great & has enough puppy dog eyes directed at Madeleine Stowe to charm the coldest of hearts. Stowe as Jennifer does a good job at giving reality to her rich girl with a rocky marriage character. The give and take between she and Stallone keeps the romantic aspect alive. Italian actor Raoul Bova does a good job as the pseudo-writer who charms Jennifer. I'm not sure if it's Harry Van Gorkum or Kip Barrett who played the husband, but he did a great job of being irritating. My favorite moment is when the drugged Jennifer crashes the car in the driveway, only to find her husband making whoopee in the pool with her best friend. This was apparently Martyn Burke's first feature directing job. He had previously written the screenplay for "Gross Anatomy" starring Matthew Modine. The difficulty with the flick is the pull between the romance and the mafia hits. There is humor in the film, kind of a feature-length "Sopranos." For its shortcomings, this is still a pleasant evening's entertainment. Of course, you'll want to see Anthony Quinn one last time. Enjoy!

I first saw this film on a flight. I didnt know what to think at first but I saw it had Sylvester Stallone in there and decided to watch it. I absolutely loved this movie. It definately was the best movie we saw on the plane. It beat the pants off those other lame movies that they played. This movie has action romance and comedy. It is one of the best movies I have seen in a while.

I did not hate the movie, I found it quaint with a very hurried up finale. I do think the humor was there, but the writers could have done a better job with it. I think sly and madeline had a decent chemistry but failed to captilize on that area. this movie could be stated as a guilty pleasure but could have been better. rent it, but keep it cheap and have a good time with it and the popcorn.

I can't believe that this was a major production. Awful. Terrible. A waste of money.

This film truly disappoints, and here's why: it could have been truly great. The premise is wonderful. A mafia bodyguard spends years watching over the daughter of his boss, falls in love with her from afar, and then the boss is killed ... and the only way to continue to protect her is to reveal his identity to her. As the plot continues, she must depend upon him more and more for her survival, thus appealing to the better angels of his nature. What better catayst to propel the plot than his protective instincts to feed the fires of his love?

Sounds great, doesn't it? Well, it didn't turn out that way. Not even close.

The problem is, the aforementioned plot treatment is not funny. Not even in the slightest. This could have been -- and really should have been -- a touching love story with a bit of comic relief, and that would have worked beautifully. Instead, this film is not even remotely funny, although it tries to be. The scenes that were obviously intended to be ROTFLMAO screamers fell absolutely flat.

To me, Stallone seems to play two characters in this film. One was the loyal bodyguard falling in love with his boss' daughter, the other was a good actor going through the motions of a script he clearly finds uninspiring. There are a few scenes in the film where Stallone shows his tender, engaging side, and several in which he just can't seem to find anything within himself to bring to this poorly developed screenplay. It is clear throughout the film that Stallone WANTS to be inspired by this screenplay, but how? Ay, there's the rub.

I don't really blame Stallone, or even the lovely Ms. Stowe, for this film's ultimate demise. I blame the writers. A good idea for a film does not a great movie make.

A good plot will grow in a particular direction, seemingly of its own accord, like a plant leaning towards the sunlight for its nourishment. This film needed to grow into a poignant love story, and a dramatic format, or perhaps even a tragic storyline, would have served the premise far better than did a comedic treatment. The screenwriters tried to force the plot of this film to be something that it wasn't, which is a recipe for disaster. This film should have been a drama, not a comedy. I just can't say that enough.

To the writers: Remember, a good plot wants to achieve something. If you insist on making this a comedy, remember that every good comic play wants to accomplish a mission. "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" showed the truly destructive nature of human greed, and "Ghostbusters" presented mere mortals defeating the forces of death. Comedy is really quite serious, guys. Freud said that "All laughter is supressed anger". Remember that. What is the point that this film seeks to achieve? To mock or satirize the mafia? To show the foolishness of falling in love with someone out of reach? To say that love conquers all? This film had no message or point whatsoever. A comedy must have a theme, just like a tragedy or a romance. "Avenging Angelo"'s plot was only skin-deep. One can not sink one's teeth into something hollow and pointless.

To Stallone: You are a fine actor and writer. You can pick better writers than these. Why not find some college guy who wants to make a name for himself? You could even hold a contest in the English departments of universities across the country. "Write My Next Movie", the flyers would read. Anything to find some writers with fresh ideas true to their artistic intergrity.

On a brief side note, this was Anthony Quinn's last film, and his talent and charm provide one of the very few bright spots in this movie. His greatness as a performer is unrivaled, and yet even the goldmine of talent offered by Mr. Quinn was not fully excavated by the writers. He and Stallone could have been great together, as were Stallone and DeNiro in "Copland", or Stallone and Burgess in "Rocky". (Warning! My next comment is a plot-spoiler.) The event that ruined Anthony Quinn's role in this film was when Stallone steps outside to talk to a cop, whilst Mr. Quinn is left behind in a restaurant, vulnerable and unprotected. We then see a couple of goofy, completely unbelieveable hitmen move in for the kill. It is painfully obvious to me that no mafia bodyguard would EVER have done something so stupid ... unless he was a conspirator in the attempt to whack his boss. Such an oversight shows disloyalty in "La Cosa Nostra", which is exactly the opposite of the relationship these writers intended to develop.

In the future, I hope Stallone will start to take a more "Rambo-ish" take-no-prisoners attitude when it comes to insisting upon quality writing in his movies. He is a fine writer himself, as he demonstrates most capably in "Rocky" I and II, and the original "First Blood". My expectation is that a man with Stallone's literary abilities would have "Rambo'ed" these writers into putting forth a screenplay worthy of both this fine plot idea and Mr. Stallone's largely untapped dramatic ability.

Every once in a long while, Stallone shows us what he can really accomplish. I do get frustrated with the long wait between his truly fine dramatic accomplishments, like "Copland" and "Rocky". This film could have been great if it had been a romance, or even better, a tragic romance. It just didn't work as a comedy, and if anything, it seems to stunt Stallone's acting abilities, rather than encourage them.