Rendez-vous avec un ange

"Date With an Angel" is a sorry film about a young man (Michael E. Knight) who finds a beautiful angel (Emmanuelle Beart) in his swimming pool after a wild party the night before. Now he is trying to nurse the angel back to health so she can return to Heaven. However, his fiance (Phoebe Cates) is on the prowl and she is far from being understanding about the situation. The screenplay is stupid, the direction is non-existent, and none of the actors make lasting impressions. A total waste. Turkey (0 out of 5 stars).

Anybody who looks at this film, will say what a unimaginative story, nervetheless at leat a bit entertaining.... But in a contrast to this, the soundtrack is a very special one. The music is by Randy Kerber / Sound Design by Dane Tracks. Singing composition and additional voice is by Avant Garde diva Joan La Barbara. Her voice is uttering in a peculiar way. Not human, maybe angelic?! - Usely angels in films sing like saloon sopranos from the 19th century in very kitschy manner. The music in the film is very kitschy, too. But the voice of La Barbara ist relativating the rest of the film.

Forget the script. Forget the acting. Never has such beauty leapt off the screen as it did with french actress, Emmanuelle Beart. My reaction was much like that of the characters on screen. MESMERIZED!!! I am forever in this films debt for the american introduction of this incredible woman. Thank you!

Chick flick that this chick didn't like. If I could look like any actress on the planet it would be Phoebe Cates. The dumbest thing to do was to cast Phoebe Cates as the third wheel in a fantasy romance. The fantasy is not that there are angels (I believe there are), but that anyone engaged to Phoebe Cates would not devote one hundred per cent of his time to her...if Phoebe Cates is not an angel on earth, who is? Michael Knight is handsome but stupid. Part of the reason I watch Phoebe Cates films is to put myself in her place. If I was in her place I would kick him to the curb. Phoebe Cates is too stunning to be shelved temporarily either in a relationship or in a script. The producers suspected this by casting (as a distraction) the wonderful French beauty Beart (of Manons in the Spring) in the angel role (sorry close, but no cigar). Beart as an angel is no Roma Downey, in fact she can't even communicate! Beart as a beauty is no Phoebe Cates. So where do you go once this fatal error is fully entrenched? No where. Phoebe Cates as usual rises above the role connecting more with the audience than with her on-screen fiance Michael Knight (ooh hasn't his career blossomed). My suggestion: rent the film, leave the doomed romance between Beart and Knight to the fast forward button, laugh at the producers who put their money into the "great stars" Knight and Beart, and enjoy Phoebe Cates performance. I think you have to be a Phoebe Cates fan to have any reason to rent this film. I am her biggest fan. If you are not a fan...yet...don't start with this film watch Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Drop Dead Fred, Paradise, Bodies Rest and Motion, even Gremlins 2. All of her performances are gems, but caution: Date With An Angel is for experienced Phoebe fans only.

I watched this film again recently after nearly ten years and was pleased to find that it's very much as I remember it. Emmanuelle Beart as the angel is a perfect mixture of stunning beauty, and playful innocence, all expressed using only facial expressions, and soft birdlike cooing sounds. Whether gleefully snarfing french fries, or bringing down the wrath of god on her enemies, she steals every scene she's in. It's easy to understand why everyone falls in love with her.

Special effects are mainly limited to a set of beautiful articulated wings, and a lovely flying sequence are quite effective, especially considering the films small budget.

Michael Knight holds up his end well enough, effectively likeable and sympathetic playing the standard befuddled hero caught in the middle. A shame we haven't seen more of him.

The three actors playing Jim's friends just manage to miss being annoying. Fortunately their antics are tempered by the fact that they obviously seem to care about him, not to mention they have some genuinely funny lines.

If there are any negatives to be found here, it's in the decidedly 'tacked on' ending. The original ending was supposedly quite lovely. Unfortunately some studio exec apparently decided it needed a 'happier' ending. Typical.

Also, Phoebe Cates as the spoiled 'jealous girlfriend' quickly grows tiresome and starts to grate on the nerves with her tantrums and shrill screaming. I guess some might find this sort of thing funny, but I found myself fast forwarding through all of her scenes. A shame really since she's such a lovely actress. In spite of the gripes though this is a pleasant and sweet enough little movie for those who enjoy romantic fantasies.