Angel in Training

This is a movie that's aimed mainly at a young audience, but it deals with some mature themes, like the loss of a parent and entering into adolescence. Although it is a low budget film, I think it is a good family film, in large part because of the performances, particularly the lead actress Laila Dagher. She shows great maturity and subtlety in her work for a child actress. I hope Hollywood casting agents take note and put her in more projects.

Desi is a girl who's mother has passed on and shes just hit puberty. She is somewhat of a Tomboy and feels a tad left out as her friends have just started wearing makeup and girlie clothes. Her father is a cartoonist trying hard to make a living. The story is a happy family Saturday movie with a great moral about how an angel helps her deal with some unpleasant people (including her dads new girlfriend). Includes some great food fights, great quotes, and makes an excellent family movie. A tad on the bad acting 80s boring, but there is always the entertainment laughing at their clothes and big hair. Keep an eye out for Mrs Morningside and her great but not always intelligible quotes.

This is a cute family movie. An angel sees a 13-year-old girl having a tough time with her life. She gets sent to earth to help this just-reaching-puberty girl learn to appreciate her life, and her changing body (with her mother having died years before). The angel becomes a good friend, and tells her supportive things. This part of the movie is powerfully good.

Her friends at school are becoming boy-crazy, while she remains somewhat of a tom-boy, with a good friend who happens to be a boy. Things come to a head when she is invited to a birthday party (but only if she comes with a boy, yuck). This film portrays (quite well) the mixed bag of feelings a girl can go through.

Her father is a cartoonist, and sort-of falls for an extremely self-centered woman, who promises him to get his comic strip syndicated nationally. The parts with the girlfriend are almost cartoon-ish with some slap-stick humor (better for the kids to enjoy).

I have watched this several times over a few years. It holds up well. All-in-all, a pretty good hour-and-a-half.

Its a fine cute story and the demographic it's made for is pretty young but it sets out what it wants to accomplish. Also the young cast can act just fine. Solid direction as well.

It's a good thing I have cable otherwise I would never have known this movie existed. I watched it some time ago on one of the movie channels and although it's a low budget little thing it's a very cute movie that I think everyone could appreciate, but especially women and young girls, as Angel In Training is a movie all about growing up.

The young cast members are what make Angel In Training so good. Laila Dagher is great as the lead character Desi, a girl who's having trouble watching her friends mature before her, and can't cope very well with the fact that she too is entering womanhood. But the real star is the beautiful and talented Daneille Pessis who plays R.J, an angel who comes down in the form of an older teenager and befriends Desi, giving Desi just the kind of friendship and guidence she needs.

The adult cast aren't too special but I did think Veronica Allen was funny as Peyton, the rather vile woman who Desi's father is dating.

The plot, while kind of thin, is enjoyable enough thanks to some cute writing and good acting from the leading characters. Angel In Training, while certainly not the best movie, is worth a look if only for Danielle Pessis (especially) and Laila Dagher's performences. The girls are great at interacting with each other on screen and their sweet and innocent friendship is a joy to watch. Not only that but it's nice to see a movie like this that doesn't resort to graphic sex scenes/talk and vulgar language, it's a very refreshing film about growing up and I liked that a lot.