We’re No Angels **** (1989, Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, James Russo, Ray McAnally, Demi Moore) – Classic Movie Review 3361

Talented Irish director Neil Jordan’s 1989 feature is his first American movie, a remake of director Michael Curtiz’s 1954 movie with Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, Aldo Ray Joan Bennett and Basil Rathbone.

Robert De Niro and Sean Penn play small-time hoods in 1935, who are forced by a killer (played by James Russo) to break out with him from a US jail near the Canadian border. Arriving at a small town swarming with police, they are mistaken for visiting priests by the head monk Father Levesque (Hoyt Axton) and hide out in his New England monastery dressed as holy fathers. So now, passing themselves off as priests, they have to try to get by the police blockade at the border into the safety of Canada.

Jordan’s version is a delightful comedy drama, beautifully written by David Mamet (based on the play La Cuisine des Anges by Albert Husson) and played with great zest by the on-form stars. In his final film, Ray McAnally makes a super villain as the nasty warden of the big house, Demi Moore is an appealing heroine as Molly who helps the duo, and Jordan ensures that there’s a lovely homage to vintage prison movies.

Shamefully underrated on release, with poor box office and what’s known as mixed reviews, it is always bright and entertaining. It cost $20 million and took only $10 million in the US.

Also in the cast are Bruno Kirby, Wallace Shawn, John C Reill, Jay Brazeau, Ken Buhay, Elizabeth Lawrence, Bill Murdoc, Jessica Jickels, Frank C Turner, Matthew Walker and Sean Hoy.

The movie débuted at number eight  at the United States box office and was also unsuccessful on home video. The success of Jordan’s early movies led him from Ireland to Hollywood, where he directed High Spirits and We’re No Angels, both of which were critical and financial disasters, damaging his clout till the surprise success of The Crying Game (1992), for which he won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3361

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