We Are Not Angels (1989)

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Movie
German title We are not angels
Original title We're No Angels
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1989
length 102 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Neil Jordan
script David Mamet
production Robert De Niro
Art Linson
music George Fenton
camera Philippe Rousselot
cut Mick Audsley
Joke van Wijk
occupation

We're No Angels (Original title: We're No Angels ) is an American feature film by Neil Jordan from 1989. The comedy is based on the stage play A Fine Mess (Original title: La cuisine des anges ) of Albert Husson from the year 1953, which was filmed under the same title in 1955 .

action

Ned and Jim are two inmates of a mine-built prison on the Canadian border in the 1930s . You are exposed to the arbitrariness of the sadistic guards. Before his execution in the electric chair, the killer Bobby frees himself at gunpoint and forces Ned and Jim to follow him outside of the prison. Because Jim quotes a verse from the Bible that he has read on a poster, the two are mistaken for priests by a driver and taken to a border town. But the outbreak is known and the border bridge is closely guarded. Fortunately, the driver describes the two in front of the sheriffs and the head of the monastery as the two long-awaited scholars Father Brown and Father Reilly. Ned and Jim end up with the monks.

It gets tricky, however, when Father Brown (Jim) is supposed to give a welcoming speech, which is rather short due to embarrassment. An adulterous sheriff also wants to make his confession, which Ned takes for him in a rather unconventional way. But the sheriff is not satisfied with that and leads him to the attractive Molly, with whom he had sex. She is the single parent of a daughter who is deaf and mute and looking for a husband. Ned wouldn't be averse, but she doesn't take him seriously as a priest.

Ned and Jim are trying desperately to get out of town. Actually, they only had to pass the bridge and would be in Canada, but the prison director is also looking for them and when his bloodhounds arrive at the bridge, another attempt fails. The dogs lead the policemen into the monastery, but the sheriff thinks it is out of the question to look for the prisoners here and lets them turn back.

Ned learns that a large procession is to take place the next day in which the Weeping Madonna , which is venerated as a shrine, is to be carried through the city and also across the bridge. In order to be allowed to procession, Ned has to accompany a sick person for whom he asks the intercession of the Madonna. He immediately thinks of Molly's daughter, but Molly doesn't believe in such hocus-pocus and doesn't want to trust Rosie to him unless Ned pays for it. Shots are fired. The police announce that they have caught the prisoner and Ned should give him the final rites . Ned notices that the police didn't catch Jim, but Bobby, who was also hiding in town. He wasn't hit so badly that he actually died. Because Bobby is blackmailing Ned, Ned secretly frees him from prison and hides him by the statue. Molly hands Ned over to Rosie for nothing after Jim, this time far more successful, had to give a speech that touched her.

Bobby's disappearance is noticed and the killer is discovered in his hiding place. After a fight with Jim he is shot by the police and there is a great commotion, in which not only the Weeping Madonna , but also Molly's daughter falls from the bridge into the river. To save her, Ned also jumps into the water. He can reach Rosie, but is drifting downstream with the child in his arms. Since the Madonna had also fallen into the water, he reached land with the help of the wooden figure. Rosie suddenly begins to speak of the shock of the experience and her mother is overjoyed. She begins to believe in God and wants further contact with her child's Savior. She goes over the bridge to Canada with Ned and Rosie.

Jim, on the other hand, enjoys his role as a priest. He decides to stay and continue his life in the monastery.

Reviews

Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times on December 15, 1989 that it was a pleasure to watch the faces of Robert De Niro and Sean Penn. The scenery of the location - the small town, the surrounding hills, the river - is used in an impressive way.

Hal Hinson, however, in the Washington Post on December 15, 1989, said the film was "wasting" "big names." He is neither clever nor funny. Only a few lines of dialogue were provided for the actors, so that they would communicate with grimaces and hand movements. The script therefore seems as if the actors are being deliberately parodied.

Moviepilot also shows little enthusiasm and writes: “Where the Bogart classic from 1955 was still appealing with its ironic and critical nuances, Neil Jordan's new edition of the same name is lost in vague insignificance. The two acting titans get completely out of hand with their facial expressions and while De Niro occasionally remembers the poison dwarf Louis de Funès , Sean Penn has dedicated himself entirely to the Stan Laurel puppet theater. "

background

The film was shot in British Columbia . Its production amounted to an estimated 20 million US dollars . The film grossed approximately $ 10.56 million in US cinemas.

literature

  • Albert Husson : A nice mess. Comedy in three acts (original title: La cuisine des Anges ). German adaptation by Werner A. Schlippe. Bloch-Verlag, Berlin 1962, 175 pages [stage manuscript]
  • Meinolf Zurhorst : Demi Moore. Lady and Vamp. Heyne-Filmbibliothek, Volume 248. Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-453-11858-8 , pp. 213-216, 244-246

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Review by Roger Ebert
  2. ^ Review by Hal Hinson
  3. ↑ Film review at moviepilot.de, accessed on November 27, 2015.
  4. ↑ Filming locations for We're No Angels
  5. ↑ Box office / business for We're No Angels