MovieChat Forums > Date with an Angel (1987) Discussion > Did I see the same movie?

Did I see the same movie?

posted 14 years ago by uruseiranma
5 replies | jump to latest

I've been surprised on Netflix as well as on here that this movie has gotten so much positive talk.

The concept intrigued me and so I watched it. However, after awhile I was forcing myself to just see it through to the end. I will do that with any bad movie no matter what, as I guess I hope maybe something will bring me around and make me like the film. However, the ending didn't make me like the film any better.

If I had probably watched this film at a much younger age, I'd probably have had fond memories of it. I did of the film 'Mannequin,' but when I saw it years later, I was just turned off moreso by the often lame attempts at humor. Watching "Date with an Angel" reminded me of that experience.

Here are a couple of my beefs with the film:

1) Jim's "friends"- I put that in quotation marks because after seeing what these guys do throughout the film, I just question how Jim could have decided to stay "friends" with these guys this far into his life. Given everything from the engagement party to their plot to exploit the Angel just reeked of bad 80's screenwriting. But it seems that the use of loud, obnoxious idiotic "friends" will never die, as 'OIFs' were also instrumental of making a mess of things for the lead character in the film "On the Line."

2) Phoebe Cates- I never really got the image at the beginning that her character was some rich brat. As the film went on, they just seemed to think it funnier to escalate her into this loud, screaming, obnoxious girl. After awhile, it felt like a guy slamming his head down on a desk hoping that people will keep laughing after the first couple times.

3) Feelings between Jim and the Angel- Through the film, I never really got the idea that Jim actually developed romantic feelings for her. He always just seemed to be the 'nice guy' wanting to do good.

Those are my top 3, but I'll stop there.

"Thanks, guys." "So long, partner."

- Toy Story 3 (9/10)

[–] loganstclair 13 years ago

I mostly agree.

The friends are so completely unlikeable that nothing they do is the least bit funny. They are the villains of the movie. When Jim is dying they get teary and say they only wanted to help. That's a huge shift from everything they said and did for the last 90 minutes.

In the beginning of the movie Jim is playing in the rain and Patty is mad at him. That establishes that she doesn't even understand what kind of guy he is. Then she flips out when she sees the angel in Jim's apartment. That shows how little she trusts Jim and how little she loves him since she basically stops talking to him for the rest of the movie. Near the end, Jim reveals that she didn't even like the idea of him being a composer. It's difficult to understand why they were together at all.

Jim definitely always seemed like the nice guy helping the angel. She clearly liked him for protecting her, but a 2 sided romantic connection was never established.

[–] Onyx_Hades 12 years ago

I always felt like there was a romantic connection between the two. It was subtle for Jim, but for me it was there. I loved the looks he would give her, and her praying for him to live. Very sweet movie.

[–] Onyx_Hades 12 years ago

Angel asking God to let her be human was very touching. Like she says to Jom at the end of the movie, "It's an answer to an Angel's prayer."

[–] SteveH2002 12 years ago

Sorry for coming to this so late but I just watched the movie and also want to agree. The script could have used a lot of work, esp with establishing that the Phoebe Cates character was wrong for Jim and toning down, or eliminating, or at least reworking the obnoxious 'friends'.

[–] echosmomma 11 years ago

Omg I was hoping someone else would comment on how repulsive the friends were. I hated the scenes they were in. Not enjoyable to watch and completely annoying and obnoxious.