Michael (1996)

Director:

Nora Ephron

Writers (WGA):

Peter Dexter (story) &
Jim Quinlan (story) ...

Release Date:

25 December 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

He's an angel... Not a saint.

Plot:

Two tabloid reporters checking out a report of the Archangel Michael living with an old woman find that it's true. But that's not the only surprise.

Plot Keywords:

Tabloid | Reporter | Archangel Michael | Iowa | Angel

Cast

John Travolta	...	Michael
Andie MacDowell	...	Dorothy Winters
William Hurt	...	Frank Quinlan
Bob Hoskins	...	Vartan Malt
Robert Pastorelli	...	Huey Driscoll
Jean Stapleton	...	Pansy Milbank
Teri Garr	...	Judge Esther Newberg
Wallace Langham	...	Bruce Craddock
Joey Lauren Adams	...	Anita
Carla Gugino	...	Bride
Tom Hodges	...	Groom
Catherine Lloyd Burns	...	Evie
Richard Schiff	...	Italian Waiter
Calvin Trillin	...	Sheriff
Donald J. Lee Jr.	...	Court Bailiff

MPAA:

Rated PG for a mild barroom brawl, some language and sensuality.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Portuguese

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Austria:U | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:6 (w) | Netherlands:AL | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | USA:PG (certificate no. 34653)

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Turner Pictures (I)

Goofs:

Continuity: When Michael is dancing in the nightclub, wearing a trench-coat, he spins around in a circle and his trench-coat floats up a little, and there are no wings available, but then immediately following the spin, his wing tips are sticking out from the bottom of the trench-coat.

Quotes:

Michael: Remember what John and Paul said.
Frank Quinlan: The apostles?
Michael: No, the Beatles. All you need is love.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Angel-A (2005)

Soundtrack:

Through Your Hands

Just Loving Travolta in this Movie...

1996's MICHAEL is warm and winning comedy-fantasy that features one of my favorite performances from the John Travolta library. Travolta gives one of his breeziest and most likable performances as Michael, an archangel whose quiet existence at the home of a lonely innkeeper named Pansy (Jean Stapleton) is disrupted when Pansy reports Michael's presence in her home to a "National Enquirer"-like newspaper and the editor (Bob Hoskins) sends reporters (William Hurt, Andie McDowell, Robert Pastorelli) to the motel to check it out. Hurt, McDowell, and Pastorelli are quite good as the jaded news staffers who have a hard time accepting they've met an angel but this is Travolta's show and he rules as the pot-bellied, sugar-eating, cookie-smelling, pie-loving, Aretha-loving, bull-chasing Michael, an angel who just isn't what you think you of when you think of angels. And you have to love the scene in the bar when he and the ladies dance to "Chain of Fools". I love this movie more and more every time I watch it and it's mainly because of the completely winning performance from John Travolta.