Plot: What’s it about?
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the biggest Jennifer Lopez fan (or J-Lo or whatever she calls herself these days). I will, though, admit that she is a fairly decent actress. With her roles in “Selena”, “Anaconda” and “Out of Sight”; it’s clear that she’s not just another pretty face–though opinions vary. Well-accomplished as a singer/actress, it was about time to see if she could carry a movie by herself. Sure, she had some experienced talent in a well-rounded cast, but this was basically all Jennifer Lopez. Her co-star, Jim Caviezel has had his share of success, most notably with last year’s “Frequency” and the previous “The Thin Red Line”. The director, Luis Mandoki didn’t veer far from his last directorial effort, “Message in a Bottle”. Another love story with Kevin Costner and Robin Wright-Penn. So can a story about fate, or let’s make that can another story about fate, be just as good as some others we’ve seen recently? Let’s find out.
Sharon Pogue (Jennifer Lopez) is a tough Chicago cop. You have to be (tough that is). As the film opens, she is seen trying to keep the victim of a car crash alive, talking to him and making him concentrate. As the scene blacks out, it flashes forward one year later. Sharon is always seen with her group of cop buddies laughing and giving as well as receiving, her share of insults. But what is tearing her up on the inside is that she’s scared and uses her gruff exterior to cover up her insecurity. This is when we meet Catch (Jim Caviezel). Yes, Catch. Though it doesn’t really come right out and say it at first, we have the hunch that he’s the victim in the car a year earlier. Wearing a trench coat and walking around in a half-daze a year later, we get the feeling that all may not be well. It’s then that a drive-by shooting happens and Catch manages to tackle the thug who is mere seconds from pulling the trigger and ending Sharon’s life. And this begs the question…is it fate that he rescues her or blind luck?
As the two get to know each other, we realize that Catch is about as closed and mysterious as Sharon. Sharon, using her police mentality is always probing and asking questions about his somewhat mysterious past. He lives in a loft, sleeps on a mattress on the floor and has no real appliances. We’ve all seen this before, too. Someone has a really dark secret and is afraid to tell their new lover, and when they (he/she) finds out, we just know that there will be hell to pay. Such might be the case with “Angel Eyes”. In somewhat of a sub-plot, we learn that Sharon has arrested her father ten years earlier for spousal abuse. He has never forgiven her for that and has left the family broken ever since. There seems to be a bit of foreshadowing that her brother, Larry (Jeremy Sisto) is going to follow the same track as his father. While I can’t say that “Angel Eyes” is one of the most original movies I’ve seen, it is entertaining. The DVD has a commentary track, so that might entice some people to buy it. Average at best.
Video: How does it look?
Warner has graced us with another fine transfer in the form of “Angel Eyes”. Presented in an anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer, the image is free of most any error you can imagine. Several scenes have a near 3-D quality to them that really makes the image come to life. About the only negative thing I can say is that there seems to be a bit of over-saturation on some of the outdoor scenes and I noticed the slightest bit of edge enhancement which knocked the score down half a notch. Aside from that, it’s a great-looking picture.
Audio: How does it sound?
While “Angel Eyes” won’t rock your room, it does have it’s moments when all of the 5.1 channels are in use. The opening scene, for instance, makes great use of the split surrounds. There are a few times when gunfire made me sit up and take notice, but for the most part you’ll find that most of the action is limited to the front three channels. I noticed no problems with the dialogue and can’t really find anything too great or too bad to say about the transfer. It gets the job done!
Supplements: What are the extras?
Sporting some cast bios and fairly neat menus, the only other supplement is the feature-length commentary by Luis Mandoki. Like his commentary for “Message in a Bottle”, he is proud of his work here, but there are some major gaps in the track. It’s your standard commentary that I doubt most people will even listen to. I didn’t learn a whole lot of insight while listening to it, but he seemed to enjoy his work here. Overall, it’s not a bad track but the disc could have used some more supplements; as I don’t think consumers will be racing to buy this one “as is”. My personal opinion, of course.
