Angie

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.

I'm a guy, and as such, chick flicks aren't my forte. However, having watched this movie with my family, I can say it's not half bad. Geena Davis is an intriguing actress. She always has a decent, good-natured way about her characters, and that really shows through in this film. It's an effective story about coping with family issues in an Italian-American family. Davis' title character has to deal with raising a newborn without the support of the child's father, and that throws everything in her life into a tailspin.

I wouldn't exactly say it's a memorable work on Davis' resume, but it's a quality movie none the less. I'd recommend it as a family movie, more for the parents than the children.

Originally intended for Madonna (who can't act & would have definitely STUNK!), this was an excellent role for Geena Davis. "Angie" is a film about an Italian/American woman from the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, N.Y. Her mom left her when she was a child & because of this she has a romanticized notion of her mother & a deep fear of abandonment. She wants more out of life than her working class plumber boyfriend (and father of her child) can offer her so she falls in love with a lawyer from Ireland while pregnant(someone as far removed from her Brooklyn world as possible!) After the baby is born, the lawyer dumps her & she also feels rejected by her son (you'll have to see the movie to find out why) so she heads off to Texas to finally face her mom for some type of closure. Yes, this character's angst & situations can be overwhelming , but real life can be like that too sometimes. The musical score, by Jerry Goldsmith, is excellent (particularly "Angie's Theme") & compliments the movie wonderfully. The movie also has a knack for capturing the New York Italian/American experience authentically. At times, "Angie" feels like a hybrid of other films ("Working Girl", "Beaches", "Saturday Night Fever", "Moonstruck" & "Pretty Woman") but it works. (This film is based on the novel "Angie, I Says" by Avra Wing. In the book the main character's name is Tina Scacciapensiari & her best friend's name is Angie. The first names of these characters were switched for the film).

So THIS is where they concocted the cast for the "Sopranos". Go figure. Three of the character actor cast members go on to the best show on television. And "Geena Davis", a damned Oscar winner, gets saddled with the "Geena Davis Show". If Geena Davis were Italian..I guess she'd have landed the Edie Falco role. I think there ought to be a Congressional inquiry into the matter. Something tells me that during the shoot for "Angie", David Chase was standing on a grassy knoll...hey...call me a conspiracy theorist...but I'll be willing to bet I'm right. Back and to the left..back and to the left.....

Geena Davis and a few veterans from the popular TV series, "The Sopranos" are featured in this 1994 comedy/drama claptrap from Hollywood Pictures. Davis is in the title role as an unmarried and pregnant woman who decides to leave the pressures of the big city life and start over in a more relaxed setting. The film could've been a little better if more screen time were given to Tony Soprano himself, James Gandolfini (who was very effective in bit parts and minor supporting roles before "The Sopranos" made him a breakout star).