''Almost an Angel'' is a 1990 American
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...
comedy-drama film
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
directed by
John Cornell
John Cornell (2 March 1941 – 23 July 2021) was an Australian actor, director, producer, writer, and businessman. He was best known for his role as "Strop" on ''The Paul Hogan Show'', and he was instrumental in the introduction of World Serie ...
and starring
Paul Hogan
Paul Hogan (born 8 October 1939) is an Australian actor and comedian. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance as ...
. The original music score was composed by
Maurice Jarre
Maurice-Alexis Jarre (; 13 September 1924 – 28 March 2009) allmusic Biography/ref> was a French composer and conductor. Although he composed several concert works, Jarre is best known for his film scores, particularly for his collaborations wit ...
.
The film was a critical and commercial failure.
Plot
Terry Dean (Paul Hogan), a professional burglar specialized in sabotaging
electronic surveillance systems, stands before his release from yet another stint in prison. Following a fellow inmate's suggestion, he decides to switch to
bank robbery
Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank branch or teller, as opposed to other bank- ...
instead, with a special twist of his own design: first by having the security cameras record TV shows he would connect them to with a modified remote control, then entering disguised as a celebrity; the confusion over this unexpected appearance would serve to confound a detailed description.
Terry's first heist (disguised as
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album '' Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (1 ...
) is successful, but shortly afterwards he witnesses a young boy about to be run over by a van; he impulsively pushes the child away and is himself hit. While in the hospital, he has a nebulous experience (which may have been caused by ''
Highway to Heaven
''Highway to Heaven'' is an American fantasy drama television series that ran on NBC from September 19, 1984, to August 4, 1989. The series starred Michael Landon as Jonathan Smith, an angel sent to Earth in order to help people in need. Victo ...
'' playing on the room's TV) in which he meets God (
Charlton Heston) who introduces himself as Terry's 'probation helper'. Though Terry has lived a sinful life, his last deed, impulsive as it was, has earned him a second chance to save his soul—by doing God's work as an
angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...
in training.
After reawakening, Terry tries another bank hold-up disguised as
Rod Stewart, but a stroke of luck occurs and a gang of amateur robbers interfere. As they escape, one of the thugs tries to shoot Terry, but gun was loaded with blanks by one of the other thugs. Thinking himself to be an immortal angel now, Terry reconsiders his ways, seeks advice in a church, and then he follows several 'signs' to another town. In a bar, he meets Steve Garner (
Elias Koteas
Elias Koteas (; el, Ηλίας Κοτέας; born March 11, 1961) is a Canadian actor. He is known for playing Alvin "Al" Olinsky in the ''Chicago'' franchise, as well as appearing in lead and supporting roles in numerous films. He won the Cana ...
), an embittered young man confined to a wheelchair by a terminal sickness. To bring Steve out of his self-pity, Terry engages him in a fist-fight on equal terms, sitting fixed on a stool. Steve, taken with Terry's acceptance of him as a person, strikes up a friendship with Terry and offers him a place to stay at the youth center for children and teens, which he runs with his sister Rose (
Linda Kozlowski
Linda Kozlowski (born January 7, 1958) is an American former actress. She is best known for her role as Sue Charlton in the ''Crocodile Dundee'' film series (1986–2001), with the first installment earning her a Golden Globe Award nomination.
...
).
Rose is at first suspicious about Terry, but Terry proves himself by slyly intimidating two drug dealers into leaving the center's premises and helping out as much as he can, and Rose gradually falls in love with him. The center itself, however, is in financial difficulties, since its backer George Bealeman (
Parley Baer
Parley Edward Baer (August 5, 1914 – November 22, 2002) was an American actor in radio and later in television and film. Despite dozens of appearances in television series and theatrical films, he remains best known as the original "Cheste ...
), while claiming himself to be a faithful Christian, refuses to provide any more funds. Since he has no angel's powers, Terry uses his technical know-how to convince Bealeman otherwise: by recording and re-editing a segment from
TV evangelist
Televangelism ( tele- "distance" and " evangelism," meaning " ministry," sometimes called teleministry) is the use of media, specifically radio and television, to communicate Christianity. Televangelists are ministers, whether official or self-p ...
Rev. Barton's (Ben Slack) telecast (which Bealeman watches reverently), and fitting the cross at the rooftop of the center's church with lighting effects, triggered by his universal remote.
At the evening where Bealeman drops by, however, two police detectives close in on Terry. Steve, who happens to overhear them, rushes off in his wheelchair to warn Terry. However, a sack of glass bottles Steve is carrying breaks and his femoral artery is cut causing him to bleed out. Just after Bealeman has left, he arrives at the center, and while Rose runs to calls an ambulance, Steve delivers his warning. Afraid of death, Steve feels lost, but is reassured he will find a place in Heaven when Terry uses the remote to trigger the lighted cross, creating a sign from God. No longer afraid of death, Steve dies in the arms of Terry and Rose.
Terry then announces that he has to leave, and trying to comfort Rose, he reveals that he is "almost an angel". Rose is understandably skeptical, but after Terry leaves, she checks his universal remote which he had left her as a keepsake, only to discover that it contains no batteries. As she stares up at the cross, it nevertheless begins to shine brilliantly on its own. Rose runs after Terry and calls out to him. Distracted, Terry slips and falls right before a speeding truck and is about to be run over. Rose is shocked to witness that the truck passes right through him, proving he has made himself an angel. Having passed his test, Terry continues on his quest to do God's work (though not without promising to return), and Rose is left comforted at last.
Cast
*
Paul Hogan
Paul Hogan (born 8 October 1939) is an Australian actor and comedian. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance as ...
as Terry Dean
*
Elias Koteas
Elias Koteas (; el, Ηλίας Κοτέας; born March 11, 1961) is a Canadian actor. He is known for playing Alvin "Al" Olinsky in the ''Chicago'' franchise, as well as appearing in lead and supporting roles in numerous films. He won the Cana ...
as Steve Garner
*
Linda Kozlowski
Linda Kozlowski (born January 7, 1958) is an American former actress. She is best known for her role as Sue Charlton in the ''Crocodile Dundee'' film series (1986–2001), with the first installment earning her a Golden Globe Award nomination.
...
as Rose Garner
* Doreen Lang as Mrs. Garner
*
Douglas Seale
Douglas Seale (28 October 1913 – 13 June 1999) was an English film and stage actor.
Early life
Born in London, Seale was educated at Rutlish School in Wimbledon and trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Career
He ...
as Father
* Ruth Warshawsky as Irene Bealeman
*
Parley Baer
Parley Edward Baer (August 5, 1914 – November 22, 2002) was an American actor in radio and later in television and film. Despite dozens of appearances in television series and theatrical films, he remains best known as the original "Cheste ...
as George Bealeman
*
Michael Alldredge
Dennis Michael Alldredge (April 13, 1941 – December 19, 1997) was an American film and television actor. He played Frank Foley in the short-lived drama television series '' Almost Grown''. He also played Bill Graham in the miniseries '' V ...
as Sergeant Freebody
*
David Alan Grier as Detective Bill
*
Larry Miller as Teller
* Travis Venable as Bubba
* Robert Sutton as Guido
* Ben Slack as Reverend Barton, TV Evangelist
* Troy Curvey, Jr. as Tom, The Guard
* Eddie Frias as Young Guard Trainee
*
Charlton Heston as
God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
Reception
Box office
The film was a commercial failure. It grossed just under $7 million in ticket sales against a $25 million budget.
Critical response
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
it has an approval rating of 33% based on reviews from 9 critics. Audiences surveyed by
CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B" on scale of A to F.
Roger Ebert of the
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...
gave it 2.5 out of 4, writing that "the going gets a little thick at the end, and some of the plot developments are dumb... But that isn't to say I'm scornful of the film's special qualities and its gentle good humor."
Kevin Thomas of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' wrote that "''Almost an Angel'' might just as well be called ''
"Crocodile" Dundee Gets Religion''" and added that "the chronic dearth of family films, plus Hogan’s undeniable laid-back appeal, may work to the film’s advantage over the holidays, but ''Almost an Angel'' really belongs on the tube."
Chris Hicks of the ''
Deseret News'' in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
wrote that "this Frank Capra-style comedy manages a gentle, occasionally sweet nature, but "Almost An Angel" just isn't funny enough—and at times not even interesting enough—to hold the attention of the audience. In fact, like its star, this movie is so low-key it often seems half-asleep."
Hal Hinson
Hal Hinson is an American film critic who wrote for ''The Washington Post'' from 1987 to 1997. As of July 2015 he has 887 reviews collected on the website Rotten Tomatoes. Hinson has been cited as a critic who is unpopular with his fellow critic ...
of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' wrote that "watching Paul Hogan in "Almost an Angel" is like watching somebody take his afternoon nap, and just about as exciting. Hogan, who made his international reputation as "Crocodile" Dundee and wrote as well as executive-produced this new project, delivers his lines here as if the sandman had just sprinkled his script—he gives them the
Perry Como treatment. He blinks once for the setup, twice for the punch line."
Janet Maslin
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' said that "it will be a true miracle if ''Almost an Angel'' attracts even a small audience, let alone finds its way to a place alongside Mr. Hogan's ''Crocodile Dundee'' in box-office heaven", adding that "Mr. Hogan remains a modest, benign comic figure, but the energy that has been spent on keeping him busy here could barely run a light bulb."
See also
*
List of films about angels
This is a list of films where angels appear.
Angels
* '' The Christmas Angel'' (1904)
* ''The Passing of the Third Floor Back'' (1935)
* ''The Green Pastures'' (1936)
* ''Here Comes Mr. Jordan'' (1941)
* ''I Married an Angel'' (1942)
* ''A Guy Na ...
References
External links
*
*
* {{Mojo title, almostanangel
*
Almost an Angel' at The Numbers
''Almost an Angel''at Oz Movies
1990s American films
1990 films
1990 comedy-drama films
American comedy-drama films
1990s English-language films
Films scored by Maurice Jarre
Films about angels
Films about families
Films about friendship
Films directed by John Cornell
Paramount Pictures films