Angie [HD]

Let's throw in 15 subplots and abandon them all.
Though Geena Davis is a great actress, good at playing particularly strong-willed women, the screenplay for "Angie" just meanders all over the place, from light comedy to the staunchest of melodramas.

I mean, what kind of a movie has a woman go into labor while gyrating in a Santa Claus suit then show her give birth to a one-armed baby, get abandoned by her married lover, watch as her stepmother breast-feeds the one-armed baby, abandons said baby, finds her long-lost mother (who it turns out is a schizophrenic), learns that one-armed baby is in a coma... all in about 15 minutes.

This was one of the most uneven films I've ever seen. Turturro's particularly good in it as the best friend, yet her character is left out of the final half hour, though she's a central character, and never returned to. Rea and Gandolfini's potentials are completely wasted in a movie that just doesn't seem to know what to do with itself.

A must for "Sopranos" fans...OK for everyone else
What a shame this movie is out of print in VHS format. Maybe since two of the cast members went on to star in the HBO phenomenon "The Sopranos," it will be reissued, perhaps in DVD. We can only hope.

James Gandolfini has what was probably his best film role in this 1994 film directed by Martha Coolidge (Rambling Rose et al.). Ironic that his meatiest film role, finds him looking a lot leaner (maybe it's about time he considered salads). For once he's not cast as a hood or a thug. Aida Turturro is along for the ride as well, and has a good time playing the role of the title character's put upon best friend.

That title character is the brassy, spirited young Brooklyn woman faced with the dilemma of unwanted pregnancy and a potentially stifling marriage. As played by Geena Davis, Angie is much more than the "woman's movie" cliche she could have been. Davis turns in a multi-dimensional performance that should have been more widely recognized...

REAL EMOTIONS ABOUND
I found this to be an endearing movie. I didn't want to watch, but couldn't turn away from Angie's pain during her self discovery. She has made poor decisions and was always looking for the greener grass, but comes to find she is her own worst enemy, and best friend.

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