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Angels In America
2003
In transferring Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning play to the small screen, director Mike Nichols has crafted a profound, ambitious masterpiece. The film follows a sprawling group of characters as they navigate their way through the cutthroat New York City of the 1980s, when AIDS began to rear its ugly head. Getting sicker .. Read more
| Starring | Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Justin Kirk |
|---|---|
| Director | Mike Nichols |
| Genres | Drama, Gay/Lesbian |
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Angels In America
In transferring Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning play to the small screen, director Mike Nichols has crafted a profound, ambitious masterpiece. The film follows a sprawling group of characters as they navigate their way through the cutthroat New York City of the 1980s, when AIDS began to rear its ugly head. Getting sicker by the minute, Prior Walter is abandoned by his tormented lover, Louis (Ben Shenkman); deluded lawyer Roy Cohn (Al Pacino) is visited by Ethel Rosenberg (Meryl Streep), a woman he helped to condemn; and the pill-popping Harper (Mary-Louis Parker) is on the verge of losing her sanity when she realises that her husband, Joe (Patrick Wilson), is a closet homosexual.
Like the best works of art, Nichols' production doesn't merely reflect a particular chapter in America's history. It floats deeper, into a world where everyday feelings are elevated to a spiritual realm. Already hailed as a modern classic, ANGELS IN AMERICA is one of the medium's crowning achievements.
| Starring | Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Justin Kirk, Ben Shenkman, Marie-Louise Parker |
|---|---|
| Director | Mike Nichols |
| Studio | WARNER HOME VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 6 hrs 15 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, Gay/Lesbian |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 27 Sep 2004 Production year: 2003 |
| Format | DVD |
Angels In America (2 discs) (2003)
Or you can rent each disc individually:
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Most helpful member's review
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32 out of 42 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
Over-theatrical, and loooooong.
Adapting stage plays for cinema is a difficult art, and American theatrical conventions cope with far greater exaggeration and stylisation than British taste finds comfortable to begin with.
Consequently, this film is not only extraordinarily long (don't make the mistake of thinking that Part II is the same length as Part I, actually it's around double), but irritatingly declamatory at times: poor Emma Thomson as the angel can't once just say 'I', it has to be 'I!I!I!I! (to which one can only say, 'Why, why, why, why?').
There's some fine acting and some interesting stories, but on the whole it's overly solemn, takes itself FAR too seriously and resembles nothing more than one of the duller and longer operas.
'Bigger is better' is all to often what the Americans seem to believe about anything that's supposed to be great, but it's a mentality that can bore. -
Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
What a bizarre film!
Utterly bizarre and not at all what I expected having seen the trailer.
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News and features
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Aids drama rules Emmys
- 20 Sep 2004
Angels in America, a drama series about the Aids epidemic, has scooped a record 11 gongs at the prestigious Emmy awards. The Emmys is American TV's premiere awards ceremony. Al Pacino and Meryl Streep, who star in the show, both received awards as Angels of America swept the board. It was also a good night for The Sopranos. The celebrated mobster series beat The West Wing to the best drama award. Sarah Jessica Parker was named best actress for her starring role in Sex and the City. Frasier,... Read more
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