Angel Heart - a nice little 80's thriller

mccauley from , 22nd December, 2009

I'm surprised no-one has written a review of this film yet, so here goes. Angel Heart is a nice little 80's thriller starring Mickey Rourke (in one of his best roles in my opinion) and Robert De Niro, with support from Lisa Bonet and Charlotte Rampling. The film is based on the 1978 novel ‘Falling Angel’ by William Hjortsburg. The film is set in 1955, with Rourke playing a Brooklyn native called Harry Angel. Harry is a fairly small-time crumpled PI who usually has a cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other. Rourke nails his part with a nuanced performance, showing both charisma and vulnerability. Hjortsburg stated that he was paying homage to Hammett and Chandler when he wrote ‘Falling Angel’, and Rourke seems to channel these influences into his portrayal of Angel. De Niro plays a somewhat shady client, Louis Cypher, who hires Harry for a job that takes him from Brooklyn to New Orleans, trying to find a crooner named Johnny Favourite who went missing before settling a debt with Cypher. To say any more would give too much of the plot away, so that is the basic set up. Needless to say, Harry gets in pretty deep. The acting and cinematography are great – director Alan Parker gives the film a unique look and a dark and spooky atmosphere. The script can be fairly clunky, but the charisma of the leads means that this doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the film. The soundtrack is fantastic, with a good mix of blues, period tracks, sax (played by Courtney Pine) and atmospheric cues that really set the mood of the locations and time period. Some of the imagery, camera angles and use of sound cues do feel dated, but again, that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the film at all. There are some nice twists and turns, with a slight supernatural element that is never overcooked, and a good ending. The plot is fairly complicated and you do need to pay attention to the names mentioned and timelines as Harry pieces events together during his search for Johnny Favourite. The movie also touches on some interesting themes, such as the truths we know deep down inside but deny to the world and even ourselves. It definitely warrants a second viewing to get the most out of it. I rented the blu ray and it was a solid transfer. It was quite grainy, typical of many catalogue blu ray transfers, and it looked like some DNR has been used, but it was certainly better than the dvd release in terms of picture and sound quality. The blu ray has no special features which was a bit disappointing. I understand that the dvd has a directors commentary from Alan Parker. Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. If you are a fan of Rourke, De Niro, Alan Parker, 80's thrillers or supernatural themes, you will enjoy this. A very solid 4 stars.

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