May 18, 2001 | About 45 minutes into Angel
Eyes, a riveting drama about wounded hearts and second chances,
I was struck by the sudden realization that I had no idea where the
movie would be going next. Better still, I knew that, wherever it did
go, I wanted to follow. Trust me: In an age when most mainstream movie
plots are simplistic enough to be synopsized in 30-second TV spots,
unpredictability counts for a lot. The only downside is, there isn't
a lot I can say in regard to what's so special about this particular
scenario, because so much of the film's impact depends on the element
of surprise and the upending of expectations.
Uncommonly
compelling and exceptionally well-acted, Angel Eyes is - on one
level, at least - a haunting, heart-wrenching love story. A prologue
introduces Sharon Pogue (Jennifer Lopez), a Chicago police officer,
as a sensitive soul who does her darnedest to rally a seriously injured
driver in the wake of a terrible auto mishap. Lest we mistake her for
a softie, however, the film flashes forward a year to show that, in
the line of duty, Sharon can talk just as tough as her male colleagues,
and act even rougher when she gets angry. She gets angry a lot.
Sharon
is very nearly killed while chasing an armed suspect. Just in the nick
of time, though, the thug is disarmed by a passing stranger who identifies
himself as Catch (Jim Caviezel). He says he just happened to be in the
right place at the right time. But, then again, there could be more
to it than that.
(With
his borderline-shabby attire, his perpetually spooked-out expression
and his inexplicable urge to be a selfless do-gooder, Catch initially
seems like the twin brother of the street person Caviezel played in
Pay It Forward. You can't help imagining that the actor simply
walked off the set of that movie and onto the set of this one.)
Understandably
curious about her savior, Sharon probes and prods during extended conversations.
(She admits, only half-jokingly, that even when she's off duty, she
can't repress her instinct to interrogate.) But Catch says little, and
reveals less. Mostly, he smiles and remains nonjudgmentally silent while
Sharon - eager, perhaps desperate, to confide in a sympathetic stranger
- talks about the root causes of her anger. About the time she arrested
her abusive father (Victor Argo) after he beat her mother (Sonia Braga)
once too often. About how, ever since, she - not her father - has been
estranged from her family. About how her married brother (Jeremy Sisto)
appears to be continuing the cycle of domestic violence.
One
thing leads to another, Catch and Sharon become lovers. But even then,
Sharon knows next to nothing about this guy whom her partner (Terrence
Howard) aptly describes as "a ghost." He doesn't mean that
literally, of course. He's simply referring to the conspicuous lack
of information about Catch in any police or government data banks. Maybe
Catch isn't whom he says he is. Or what he says he is. And if so, maybe.…
OK,
that's all you need to know about the set-up. The pay-off is a bit anticlimactic
- this is one case where the journey, not the destination, is the most
important thing - but it's nonetheless dramatically and emotionally
satisfying. Just as important, it flows logically out of the clues and
hints we're given early in the game. Don't misunderstand: Director Luis
Mandoki and screenwriter Gerald DiPego, who last teamed on Message
in a Bottle, aren't trying to pull a Sixth Sense switcheroo.
But they succeed splendidly at making Sharon and Catch sufficiently
complex - and more than a little mysterious - to capture our interest
and win our sympathy.
In
her best movie performance to date, Lopez illuminates the many facets
of her character with emotional truth and megawatt star power. But wait,
there's more: She also continues her proud rebellion against contemporary
standards for female beauty in mass media. When she strips to her underwear
to swim in a park lake, she looks radiantly robust - to use Charles
Bukowski's memorable phrase, like "a womanly woman" - and
not fashionably underfed. Good for her.
Caviezel
has the trickier role, since he has to keep so much bottled up for so
long. He, too, makes a winning impression, playing Catch in a style
- equal parts weary sadness and boyish whimsy, spiked with a hint of
muffled rage - that recalls a young, pre-Psycho Anthony Perkins.
Much
to their credit, the makers of Angel Eyes resist the temptation
to explain or settle everything. At the end of the movie, at least one
major conflict remains unresolved, and one of Catch's defining eccentricities
remains unexplained. You can read that ambiguity as a roundabout compliment.
Obviously, Mandoki and DiPego feel that we're smart enough to sort things
out for ourselves.