The main character, and what a character, is Chief Deputy US Marshal Sam Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones), another ‘dirty Harry” with the same bad habits that made Clint Eastwood‘s character famous years ago. He’s violent, and driven, almost a maniac when it comes to apprehending his suspects and bringing them to justice, dead or alive. He finds an excellent opponent in Mark Sheridan (Wesley Snipes) a tow-truck driver in Chicago who gets involved in an accident and then is found to be guilty of murdering two agents in New York.

Gerard loses him in a plane-crash and then embarks on his own heroic plan to get Sheridan and make him pay for the crimes.

The action is fast paced and filled with all kinds of turns and surprises, but the overall impression is still of an action movie without too much to offer. We’ve got Irene Jacob as Sheridan’s girlfriend, who’s there so that the movie won’t be carried by 2 men only. The movie might have been better without her.

As the plot progresses we find out that the initial information on the fugitive wasn’t exactly right and Sam Gerard is forced to reconsider his position, while still trying to obey the minimal rules he’s willing to on a daily basis. The movie is filled with all kinds of stunts that make it enjoyable. Tommy Lee Jones delivers as expected and Snipes does a decent job himself.

So, if you’re the “action” type of movie buff, you might consider watching it.

Dr.Maggie Rice is a heart surgeon who’s losing a patient and get comforted by an angel. Normally humans cannot see these, unless they’re dying, but, weird enough, she can. Seth (Nicolas Cage) is so moved by her sadness (though it’s not normal to face it daily) that he becomes visible. And they fall in love.

The human senses something is wrong with the man dressed in black, when she invites him for dinner and he cuts his finger without bleeding. Her reaction is absolutely normal for us; she kicks him out.

Even if he should resume his “life” as an angel, Seth is obsessed with the woman and would give anything to “feel” her once. To touch her and feel her skin, to have the senses us mortals have been blessed with.

Other movie addicts who have watched more flicks than me, can surely recall Wings of Desire (1988) by Wim Wenders. City of Angels cannot be considered as a remake, but surely draws inspiration from it.

As opposed to other “angel movies”, this one doesn’t consider angels to be “ex-humans”, who got their wings after they died, but totally different entities, who haven’t had a human form and never felt what we do.

What makes this movie “work” are the 2 actors who are both adorable and convincing and the end that I think saves the movie from being a mediocre flick to a “not so bad at all” one. Since it’s been created so many years ago, I assume you’ve already seen it, so I’d love to know how you feel about it.