City of Angels (1998)
79%RT Audience Score: 82%
Awards & Nominations: NA
City of Angels may not tug the heartstrings as effortlessly as it aims to, but the end results will still leave more than a few viewers in tears
City of Angels is a movie that’s been around for a while, but it’s still worth watching if you’re in the mood for a glossy romance with a supernatural twist. Sure, it’s not as poetic as Wings of Desire, but it’s got Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan deviating from their usual screen personas, which is always fun to see. Plus, the movie’s eerie vision of black-clad angels lurking in the shadows is genuinely haunting. So, if you’re looking for a movie that’ll make you think about mortality, sacrifice, and the mixed blessings of the human condition, give City of Angels a try. Just don’t expect it to be the most emotionally involving flick you’ve ever seen.
Production Company(ies)
Apple Original Films, Cartoon Saloon Mélusine Productions,
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
TV-MA
Year of Release
1998
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.78 : 1
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Runtime:1h 57m
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Language(s):
-
Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Apr 10, 1998 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 29, 1998
Genre(s)
Romance
Keyword(s)
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Worldwide gross: $198,685,114
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: $78,685,114
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Taika Waititi – Viago
Jonny Brugh – Deacon
Cori Gonzalez-Macuer – Nick
Stuart Rutherford – Stu
Ben Fransham – Petyr
Director(s)
Writer(s)
Wim Wenders, Peter Handke, Richard Reitinger, Dana Stevens
Producer(s)
Charles Roven, Dawn Steel
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (60) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (35) | Rotten (25)
September 7, 2011 | Rating: C
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
Glossy romance as an angel falls for a surgeon.
December 22, 2010 | Rating: 4/5
Nell Minow
Common Sense Media
TOP CRITIC
October 18, 2008 | Rating: 3/4
Susan Stark
Detroit News
TOP CRITIC
Strains to achieve the enchantingly sublime, but ends up sinking to the depressingly ridiculous.
April 27, 2007
Andrew Sarris
Observer
TOP CRITIC
As a remake it’s not as poetic as Wenders’ masterpiece Wings of Desire, but it’s supremely mounted (by ace lenser John Seale) and contains touching performances from Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan deviating from their respective screen images.
June 1, 2006 | Rating: 3/4
Emanuel Levy
Variety
TOP CRITIC
Funnier than Wenders’ version, and it also succeeds in visualising LA as a magical city while dealing intelligently with the themes of mortality, sacrifice, free will, and the mixed blessings of the human condition.
February 9, 2006
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Everything the over-the-top Ghost should have been – stylish, endearing and, watching it now 23 years on, enduring – City of Angels’ only disappointment is that it didn’t make even more of the Cannes-winning source material.
November 30, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/5
James Croot
Stuff.co.nz
The movie’s eerie, slightly menacing vision of black-clad angels lurking in the shadowy corners of unsuspecting lives is genuinely haunting.
September 18, 2008 | Rating: 3/4
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide
An emotionally uninvolving flick that attempts to play on the heart strings of the viewer and fails in its effort.
April 9, 2005 | Rating: C-
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews
City of Angels is the sort of compromised movie that could have been almost good, but decided to be a great big hit instead.
January 2, 2005 | Rating: C
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
City of Angels raises theological questions, albeit in a somewhat pedestrian manner, and makes them an integral part of its otherwise formulaic plot.
December 6, 2004
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer
Superb imagery can’t compensate for deficiencies of Dana Steven’s script and can’t hide the formulaic nature of this film.
June 2, 2004 | Rating: 4/10
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews…
Plot
An angel falls in love with a heart surgeon and decides to give up his immortality to be with her as a mortal entity in City of Angels.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
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