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ANGEL HEART-United States-1987

Mickey Rourke as Harry Angel

Epiphany Proudfoot

Charlotte Rampling as Margaret Krusemark

Robert De Niro as Louis Cyphre

Directed by Alan Parker

Screenplay by Alan Parker

Based on the novel ‘Falling Angel‘ by William Hjortsberg

Since its release in 1987 I’ve probably watched Angel Heart a dozen times or more. I know what the film is about; a down on his luck detective is hired by a mysterious client to find a man who disappeared years before. I know all about the controversy surrounding the sex scene between Mickey Rourke and Lisa Bonet. I know that the film walks a thin line between horror film and detective story. The role of Harry Angel may very well be Mickey Rourke’s finest performance of his pre-The Wrestler career. Harry Angel is a twitchy, edgy untrustworthy son of a bitch and Rourke plays the role to perfection. Throw in Robert De Niro as the mysterious Louis Cyphre and you have what could easily amount to an acting powder keg. There are just two nagging problems that keep the film from achieving that explosion.

First of all the film is just too slow for its own good. I’m not saying that it should move at a breakneck speed, but it would have helped to pick up the pace just a tiny bit. The pace of the film is but a minor speed bump when compared to the second faux pas. There’s a reason why Lisa Bonet isn’t a name you hear very often anymore. Her performance in Angel Heart is as wooden as you’re likely to see. No emotion, no personality and a steamy, yet disturbing sex scene do not a commanding performance make. The pace of the film can be forgiven, Bonet’s performance cannot. The performance of Rourke and Robert De Niro help to balance things out, but let it be known that Bonet’s lackluster performance nearly steals the film for all the wrong reasons. The Cosby Show may have lost a daughter, but the world sure as hell didn’t gain an actress.

TRIVIA

Robert De Niro’s performance is an impersonation of Martin Scorsese.

Louis Cyphre is shown wearing a mood ring, colored brown, which represents “restlessness”.

In the novel the entire story was set in New York. In the movie much of the action of the film occurs in New Orleans. This change was suggested to Alan Parker by William Hjortsberg himself.

Alan Parker claims that Robert De Niro’s performance as Louis Cypher was so eerie and realistic that he generally avoided him during his scenes, letting him just direct himself.

½

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