Descending Angel

This drama compels us to feel empathetic towards an old Nazi war criminal because well, it's George C. Scott. Sorry no deal. Not only the plot is a shameful exploitation of historical tragedies to suit the Holocaust-slot-machine genre, but the film is a confusing, sloppy mess in many ways. It was made by HBO in the days before they were Game for Thrones. Eric Roberts is the hallmark to this "it's taboo but not risky" made-for-TV movie with lackluster direction. Roberts finds out that his father in law (Scott) was a prison guard at a WWII concentration camp, a Romanian collaborator to Nazis, and participated in some historical massacres. The script dictates that Scott not only massacred women and children in Romania, but continues to order murders to this day when anyone comes close to discovering his secret. Since Roberts knows the secret, his own life is in danger. The rest of the script simply aligns various nonsense, improbabilities, and implausibilities. Director Kagan isn't at all bad (The West Wing, The Journey of Natty Gann, The Sting II, The Big Fix, The Chosen) but this was one of his descending moments.

It really is a shame, as "Descending Angel" is a very good film...but by the end of the movie, it degenerates into a stupid action flick. Up until then, I really enjoyed it and wanted more and more.

Michael (Eric Roberts) is engaged to Irina (Diane Lane). So it's not surprising that she is taking him home to introduce to her father, Florian (George C. Scott). Florian seems like a swell guy...which makes it all the weirder when a stranger approaches Michael and tells him his prospective father-in-law is a war criminal! At first, he doesn't believe it....but over time he comes to realize that the father is a monster.

Up until the big confrontation scenes near the end, the story was excellent. But there were two huge problems. First, Irina's reaction AND Michael's reaction to her reaction came off as hard to believe at best. Second, and more importantly, the ending is simply stupid. Despite Florian being a dangerous character with very dangerous friends, Michael deals with this in the silliest and unbelievable manner...so much that my daughter and I found ourselves laughing. Sad...it could have been wonderful...instead, it's a flawed but watchable film...with good performances by Roberts (who, oddly, is cast third even though he is THE star) and Scott.

By the way, the opening credits are very explicit...and you see a LOT of DIane Lane. Odd, as the rest of the film has no nudity at all and it did seem out of place.

In Descending Angel, Diane Lane comes from Romanian descent. Her father, George C. Scott, immigrated to America after WWII, and he's a very powerful member of the community. When she brings her fully American fiancé, Eric Roberts, to meet him, there's quite a bit of tension. Eric not only sees her in a different role, that of doting child, but he has to absorb a completely different culture. And, to make things more complicated, he senses that George has a shady past - even though his "sense" only comes from one disgruntled man and everyone else he talks to, including a priest, backs up George's character.

Eric Roberts' character just wasn't likable. He's reckless, smug, and naïve, thinking he can double-cross a very powerful man in the community and get away with it. Without having even one-tenth of the full information, he forms a judgmental opinion and runs with it. He automatically assumes George is a villain, and he does undercover dirty work to try to expose what he believes and turn Diane against her family. Who does he think he is? He's an outsider who doesn't understand the Romanian culture or Diane's relationship to her family. Diane has a great line when she disagrees with his behavior: "What are you, the conscience of the world? When did you care about (*all this*) before?" She asks why he's acting this way, knowing he's deliberately destroying their relationship. Eric responds, "Because it's right." According to whom, I ask? Eric is the interloper, a virtual stranger who makes it his mission to take away a daughter from her father. He claims George is trying to dominate, isolate, and control Diane, but isn't that exactly what he's doing?

I was surprised by the relatively graphic nature of the bedroom scenes, given that this was a television movie made in 1990. Those who still see Diane as the little girl from A Little Romance might feel uncomfortable as she sheds her clothes and rolls around with her costar. I liked her 1980s hairstyle, and I appreciated George's attempt at a Romanian accent, but that was about it. I wouldn't recommend this movie, as the ending is especially disappointing to those who had the patience to sit through the entire running time.

If you ignore an ending that seems both rushed and highly unlikely, "Descending Angel" is totally acceptable, with a fine George C. Scott performance. Eric Roberts is going to be marrying Scott's daughter, and the movie revolves around an uneasy meeting with his future father in-law. When Roberts suspicion begins to build that Scott was part of a WW2 massacre of Jews, his fiancé, Diane Lane, is torn between her powerful father and her love for Roberts. Although the film is not perfect, mostly because of the flawed conclusion, it is different enough to maintain interest. Recommended for fans of George C. Scott, and Eric Roberts. - MERK

I am of the opinion that this film has an undeserved reputation as "underdeveloped." The better description of the feel of this film lies closer to "stark" or "lean" rather than "limited." I find Descending Angel better in many ways than The Music Box, which explores similar themes (although Jessica Lange and Armand Mueller Stahl are excellent in the latter film). One point of contrast that I find falls fully in Descending Angel's favor is that Roberts, unlike Lange, does not suddenly jet off to Eastern Europe in pursuit of "the truth." The chickens come home to roost messily in the United States, and give the film a nasty political edge I find compelling. I give it 8/10 for cable fare. Roberts, Lane, and Scott are enough reason to see this piece. Some of the scenes between Roberts and Scott are among the most compelling confrontations between past actions and present morals as have been filmed in the 1990s. If you liked True Colors or Storyville, you'll like this one too.