Solemplex
To me, this movie is perfection.
Stometer
Save your money for something good and enjoyable
Kamila Bell
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Predrag
"We're No Angels" is a movie made for those faces, and one of the pleasures of watching the film is to see them looking sidelong at each other as they try to figure a way out of the complicated mess they're in. The movie has a lot of other good stuff to look at (including dramatic period locations in a small Canadian town) and to listen to (dialogue by David Mamet), but I can think of no other recent movie in which so much of the pleasure lies in watching the expressions on the faces of the actors - especially when they're reacting, not talking. Mamet and Neil Jordan, who directed the movie, wisely remember the most important thing about any mistaken- identity comedy: The fact that someone's identity is mistaken is not always funny even the first time and rarely thereafter. Movies that depend on mistaken identities for their laughs are among the slowest, dreariest slogs through cinema.Too bad that the film came out to be both simplistic and ordinary despite of the talent involved especially when it features De Niro and Penn,two of the best actors in Hollywood; and Jordan,one of the finest director of the industry.There were a lot of boring moments.Also,it just turned out to be somewhat corny and provides minimal laughter in a lot of scenes.Overall,it was definitely a misfire from the cast and the director involved as it does not live up to its potential.Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
TxMike
I managed to miss this movie over the years but now have been able to see it on Netflix streaming movies. I generally like De Niro, and generally like Penn, so had high hopes for this comedy of sorts. I came away a bit disappointed. The beginning and end were most interesting but most of the middle seemed to bog down quite a bit, trying hard for laughs but rarely delivering.It was filmed in the communities in Western Canada near Vancouver, including a community just north of Porteau Cove, where my kids and I spend a couple of days in 1990. Really beautiful scenery.Robert De Niro is Ned and Sean Penn is Jim, they manage an escape from prison and head for the Canadian border. But their journey is interrupted when they are mistaken in this small border town for two visiting priests who had written a popular Catholic book. As they plot their crossing the cops show up with search dogs.A 20-something Demi Moore is also a key character with a young deaf and mute daughter that gets involved. In a miracle of sorts she gains her ability to make sounds and, pointing to the two men, barely says "con ... victs" but the others interpret it as "con ... verts" which provides some humor.SPOILERS: In the end the cops are gone and the escaped convicts are safe, and as Ned begins to cross the bridge to freedom he looks back at Jim who has been motivated by the order of priests and decides to stay with them and start a fresh life.
Michael_Elliott
We're No Angels (1989) *** (out of 4) Remake of the 1955 film has Robert DeNiro and Sean Penn playing escaped convicts who hide out as priests in a small town where they try to sneak across the border into Canada. Most of the reviews you read for this film will probably be negative but I've always enjoyed what the movie has to offer even though there's no way of denying that it could have and should have been a lot better than it turned out. I think the biggest problem with the film is the direction of Jordan who just wasn't right for the material. This is suppose to be a comedy yet you wouldn't know it because Jordan handles the material so dark that it's rather hard to get many laughs. We've get some rather strong tones on religion and even some strong violence, which just doesn't sit too well in a comedy. Even the entire atmosphere of the film is rather dark, which is a staple of Jordan but again, that wasn't really needed in this film. What does work are the performances by DeNiro and Penn who are excellent together. Playing dumb is never an easy thing but both men pull this off remarkably well, which is very important since most of the laughs come from them not understanding anything to do with religion yet they're suppose to be priests. The two men's facial expressions is what works the best because the look on their faces when they're put on the spot are just flawless as is their constant begging and pleading for various things throughout the movie. Demi Moore has a supporting role, which brings in more darkness that really isn't needed but Bruno Kirby and John C. Reilly turn in nice supporting performances with Reilly really standing out as another priest obsessed with Penn. The laughs throughout the film are certainly minor but to me the film still works well thanks to the terrific performances. You really don't expect to see DeNiro and Penn in a movie like this but they both pull it off very well and make it worth viewing.
buddybickford
More of a question really. Why did De Niro's head keep constantly bobbing around like that while he pulled the old sniffing Mafia Face? did that appeal to anyone out there? it irritated me immensely. Have to score the film low as I couldn't see any finer points as his head kept bobbing around and distracting all else. Penn's Performance seemed sound from what i could see through my red mist and basically saved the film, he also resisted from picking up this head bobbing method under immense pressure to do so, I wasn't so lucky for three days i couldn't keep it still. I wonder did the Director suffer from Star Fright as any other Director would have said something on the first take, like 'Mr De Niro why are you bobbing your head like that? are you OK?'
