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Poster for City of Angels

City of Angels

She didn't believe in angels until she fell in love with one.

1998 · 1h 54m · PG-13 Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Directed by Brad Silberling

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Overview

When a guardian angel – who invisibly watches over the citizens of Los Angeles – becomes captivated by a strong-willed heart surgeon, he ponders trading in his pure, otherworldly existence for a mortal life with his beloved. The couple embarks on a tender but forbidden romance spanning heaven and Earth.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
Rotten

Strains to achieve the enchantingly sublime, but ends up sinking to the depressingly ridiculous.

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer
Fresh

As a remake it's not as poetic as Wenders' masterpiece Wings of Desire, but it's supremely mounted (by ace lenser John Seale) and contains touching performances from Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan deviating from their respective screen images.

Emanuel Levy, Variety
Fresh

Funnier than Wenders' version, and it also succeeds in visualising LA as a magical city while dealing intelligently with the themes of mortality, sacrifice, free will, and the mixed blessings of the human condition.

Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Fresh

My face had been locked in that goofy, awestruck expression you experience only in Spielberg movies. City of Angels demonstrates the best kind of emotionally manipulative filmmaking.

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
Fresh

A lovely oddity.

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

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