Amazon.com video review:
Religious strife in Northern Ireland and injustice in the Sudan are
the dilemmas to be tackled by the angels in this double-episode tape.
First,
in "Life Before Death" (episode 616), the Irish-born Monica (Roma Downey)
goes to Belfast to collect a mixed group of teens to bring them to the
United States to build a home together and, hopefully, a bridge of
communication and understanding between the two groups. The effort gets off
to a rocky start except for a budding romance between a Catholic boy and a
"Prod" girl. In "Such a Time as This" (episode 603), Lindsay Crouse plays a
senator who ran for all the right reasons, but now finds herself
politically
compromised during a reelection bid. When her young son and idealistic
husband (Joe Spano) get caught up in the angels' mission to bring attention
to Sudanese slaves in Africa, the senator finds herself torn between doing
the right thing and angering her political backers, thus jeopardizing her
career. --Kimberly Heinrichs
Amazon.com video review:
Angel Monica may have that musical Irish lilt to her speaking voice, but her singing voice is anything but heavenly. So when the voice she's always longed to sing praises to God with turns out to belong to an ungrateful teenager in "Voice of an Angel," Monica's resentment rages out of control. She abandons her assignment only to end up in a karaoke bar and then handcuffs. In a bit of stunt casting, the sullen, gum-snapping girl is played by the operatic star Charlotte Church and the boys of 'N Sync appear in cameo roles as street singers. The second episode, "Legacy," follows a more solemn track with an alum-made-good (Jere Burns) who bullies his son into attending his alma mater and joining the same fraternity. When a pledging rite goes awry, one of the son's roommates falls into a coma and the fraternity president demands cooperation in a cover-up. This thought-provoking episode examines the ethical responsibilities of a bystander. Its focus on young people enhances its value as a starting-off point for discussions on the subject with tweens or young teens. However, the roommate's eventual death may make the episode too strong for the very young. --Kimberly Heinrichs
Amazon.com video review:
"Psalm 151," the 100th episode of the popular series Touched by an
Angel, is a thousand-hankie watching delight. At moments it's overly
sentimental and as sweet as treacle, but at the same time the viewer will find
it as irresistible as chocolate cake. This episode guest stars Wynonna
Judd, who surprisingly has an amazing screen presence, and
Celine Dion, who should definitely keep her day job as a singer. It's
Monica's (Roma Downey) 100th heavenly assignment with the help of Tess
(Della Reese). They've been brought to the house of a terminally ill boy,
who has several birthday wishes he wants to fulfill. He has little time
left, and needs all of his wishes to happen before he goes, and it's up to
our sympathetic angel duo to help the little boy make his final dreams
come true.
Also included on this tape is the first episode of the series,
"Southbound Bus," which shows Monica's first assignment. Fans of the
TV show will enjoy seeing this episode again, as it examines the
origin of the characters, and they'll also see, in comparison to the
rest of the episodes, how much the characters have grown. Newcomers to
the series will have the wonderful opportunity to experience a
heavenly introduction to Monica and Tess. The angels' first assignment
is to help a rather angry and lost little boy; his mother ran away
after her baby died, leaving her little boy and husband behind. The
little boy is determined to find his mother again and to bring her
home. With the help of Monica and Tess this may just
happen. --Samantha Allen-Storey
