Rating: R
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: 08/03/1999
SubTitles: English/Espanol
Dubbed: English/French
Run Time: 104 Minutes
Flags: Adult Situations, Questionable for Children
Distributor/Studio: 20th Century Fox

The acclaimed Trainspotting trio (director Danny Boyle, producer Andrew Macdonald, scripter John Hodge) reunited for this update of '30s screwball comedies and '40s fantasies, such as Here Comes Mr. Jordan(1941), Angel on My Shoulder(1946), Down to Earth(1947), and the 1946 Stairway to Heaven (co-directed by Macdonald's grandfather, Emeric Pressburger). Tossed together for $12 million, the result is a combination salad, a surreal salmagundi with an added animated sequence for lagniappe. In Heaven, Gabriel (Dan Hedaya) sends angels O'Reilly (Holly Hunter) and Jackson (Delroy Lindo) down to Earth to make two people fall in love. If the angels fail, they must remain on Earth. The target couple: well-to-do Celine (Cameron Diaz) and impoverished, aspiring novelist Robert (Ewan McGregor), a janitor at the corporation owned by her wealthy father, Naville (Ian Holm). Robert loses his job, kidnaps Celine, and the two retreat to a mountain hideout where they discuss splitting the ransom. O'Reilly and Jackson plan to make Robert and Celine love each other by putting them in jeopardy, so the two angels get hired on by Naville as bounty hunters. Although Robert and Celine argue, they also sing and dance together at a local karaoke bar, a scene evocative of both Dennis Potter's Karaoke and the memorable karaoke performance by Cameron Diaz in My Best Friend's Wedding. The angels make few gains, but when Jackson is on the brink of killing Robert, Celine comes to his rescue. Naville cancels Celine's credit card, so she robs a bank. Robert is shot during the robbery, and Celine has dentist Elliot (Stanley Tucci) remove the bullet. Robert awakens, finds the two together, and knocks out Elliot, prompting an argument that leads Celine and Robert to separate. Plagued by their own problems, the angels kidnap Celine themselves, and as complications mount, Gabriel eventually has God intervene. Filmed in Utah, although Hodge originally planned the story to take place in France and England.

~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Be the first to review this product!

Cast:
Ewan McGregor - Robert
Cameron Diaz - Celine
Holly Hunter - O'Reilly
Delroy Lindo - Jackson
Ian Holm - Naville
Ian McNeice - Mayhew
Stanley Tucci - Elliot
Dan Hedaya - Gabriel
Tony Shalhoub - Al
K.K. Dodds - Lily
Maury Chaykin - Tod
Judith Ivey - Celine's Mother

Production:
Danny Boyle - Director
Andrew Macdonald - Producer
David Arnold - Composer
Masahiro Hirakubo - Editor
John Hodge - Screen Writer
Racy Lang Gallacher - Art Director
Donna Isaacson - Casting
Adam Shankman - Choreography
Brian Tufano - Cinematographer
Rachael Fleming - Costume Designer
Matias Alvarez - First Assistant Director
Kave Quinn - Production Designer
Jeff Jensen - Second Unit Director
Douglas Cameron - Sound/Sound Designer
Paul Hamblin - Sound/Sound Designer
Jeff Jensen - Stunts Coordinator
Mike Mort - Animation Director

Two of a Kind
    John Travolta / PG / 1983
Feeling Minnesota
    Keanu Reeves / R / 1996
Bringing Up Baby
    Katharine Hepburn / NR / 1938
It Happened One Night
    Clark Gable / NR / 1934