Angie (1994)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Martha Coolidge

Writers (WGA):

Avra Wing (novel)
Todd Graff (screenplay)

Release Date:

4 March 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Angie's ready to face life's toughest challenges. But is life ready for Angie?

Plot:

Angie lives in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, N.Y. and dreams of a better life than everyone she knows...

Plot Keywords:

Human Relationship | One Word Title | Based On Novel | Character Name In Title

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Geena Davis	...	Angie Scacciapensieri
Stephen Rea	...	Noel Riordan
James Gandolfini	...	Vinnie
Aida Turturro	...	Tina
Philip Bosco	...	Frank Scacciapensieri
Jenny O'Hara	...	Kathy
Michael Rispoli	...	Jerry
Betty Miller	...	Joanne
Susan Jaffe	...	Ballerina
Jeremy Collins	...	Lover
Robert Conn	...	Death
Ray Xifo	...	Dr. Gould
Rosemary De Angelis	...	Aunt Vicky
Rae Allen	...	Aunt Violetta
Ida Bernardini	...	Aunt Louisa

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Philippines:R-18 | USA:R (Certificate #32819) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-10 | Germany:12 | Iceland:L | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

El Mirage Dry Lake, California, USA

Company:

Caravan Pictures

Trivia:

Originally set up by Joe Roth (then head of 20th Century Fox) as a star vehicle for Madonna, who pulled out when scheduling conflicts arose with her role in Abel Ferrera's Dangerous Game (1993). Joan Allen, Kim Basinger, Halle Berry, Sherilyn Fenn, Bridget Fonda, Jodie Foster, Helen Hunt, Demi Moore, Kathy Najimy, Tatum O'Neal, Daryl Hannah, Meryl Streep, Marisa Tomei and Sela Ward were then considered before the part went to Geena Davis. It was then that a leaked fax from Madonna to Roth emerged in which she sarcastically blasted his decision to dump her for a non-Italian actress. It transpired that Roth had privately expressed doubts about Madonna's ability to carry a movie, comments which had made it back to the star in question, hence her sudden departure from the project. Original director Jonathan Kaplan soon followed, to be replaced by Martha Coolidge, with whom Davis had worked two years previously on Rambling Rose (1991).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Angie gets out of the shower, the reflection in the mirror doesn't match Angie's movements.

Quotes:

Angie: Are you lonely or horny?
Noel: I'm Irish. Which is the equivalent of saying that I'm lonely and horny.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Allemaal film: Betere tijden (#1.9)" (2007)

Let's just introduce 15 subplots and abandon them all

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.