7.5/10
The big-budget collaboration between screenwriter David Mamet, director Neil Jordan, and stars Robert DeNiro and Sean Penn – WE’RE NO ANGELS (107 mins., 1989, PG-13; Cinematographe) – was intended to be one of the big hits of the 1989 holiday season. Although "We're No Angels" struck out at the box-office, it’s an underrated film that’s been long ripe for rediscovery – something that should hopefully happen now thanks to Cinematographe’s lavish Blu-Ray limited edition.
“We’re No Angels” is a beautiful studio production that regrettably never found its audience. Audiences weren't receptive to the movie's light humor (a remake of the 1955 Humphrey Bogart film), but I've always found it to be an underrated, gentle comic drama with committed (if uneven) performances from the two leads – essaying convicts who, after escaping from prison, disguise themselves as priests along the Canadian border during the mid ‘30s – and able support provided by Demi Moore, Hoyt Axton and a young John C. Reilly. Moore especially acquits herself well in a character-building role that signaled her breakout stardom in the ‘90s, apart from “Brat Pack”-type supporting turns.
Under the direction of Neil Jordan, “We’re No Angels” has a strange rhythm in terms of its tone, and maybe that’s because of the oddball pairing of him with Mamet. DeNiro doesn’t help matters by mugging, at times agonizingly, through some scenes, though this doesn’t appear to have been his fault necessarily (more on that in a moment).
Either way, the story is engaging enough to function and it’s backed by the kind of big-budget studio gloss we just don’t see anymore. The widescreen frame was required to capture the film's polished visual sheen, from Philippe Rousselot's cinematography to Wolf Kroeger's staggering production design, while George Fenton’s fine score – even with its occasional, obvious Bernard Herrmann “homages” – is one of his best. The film strikingly evokes time and place while providing an undercurrent of religion and its connection to community that is refreshingly sincere, and the ending is lovely.
Jordan, in a new interview in Cinematographe’s Blu-Ray, notes he was frustrated with juggling the concerns of big stars with huge egos, superstar producers, a big budget and a (rightfully) concerned studio. Coming off small-scale British hits like “Mona Lisa,” Jordan says part of his difficulty with “We’re No Angels” was making the environment “real” for DeNiro and Penn, with the project coming about because they wanted to work together. That meant Kroeger literally constructing an entire town so they could provide the kind of performance both stars demanded, but the challenges proved wearisome and one senses Jordan didn’t care for working with Penn in particular, despite his belief that the actor gives the best performance in the film.
Equally upsetting for Jordan was that he settled on a cut that he felt properly balanced the comedic element with an “epic” sense of scope. Unfortunately, despite testing well, the producers and studio decided the movie needed to be played “more broadly,” which meant going into DeNiro’s takes specifically and choosing his wildest reaction shots. Despite Jordan’s protests, DeNiro’s incessant mugging is notable to the point of distraction in the film – the unsurprising result, as Jordan points out, was that his performance was tagged nearly universally as “too broad” by critics once the film opened.
While fans may hold out hope, along with the director, that Jordan’s version of the movie exists somewhere in the Paramount vaults, Cinematographe’s Blu-Ray presents a superbly detailed new 4K scan (2.39) with both 2.0 and 5.1 DTS MA tracks. Jordan’s on-camera interview is the main component to the extras, with co-star James Russo appearing in an interview, Samm Deighan comparing the two versions of the movie, a commentary by Chris O’Neill and Bill Ackerman, and 2020 interview with Mamet from the Aero Theater comprising the extras. Cinematogrape’s hardbound box includes text essays by Patrick Dahl, Joshua Dysart and Matt Prigge, and is limited to 4000 copies.
