ANGEL HEART starts like detective noir and ends like a horror movie and has some comedy in the middle. This is my kind of movie.Mickey Rourke stars as Harry Angel, a private eye in 1955 New York who is summoned to a Harlem church where some form of devil worship seems to be going down and hired by a creepy dude played by Robert DeNiro to find a missing person. DeNiro has long hair, a Satanic beard, fingernails filed into points, and seems to sit on a throne as he fills Rourke in on his mission, ominously noting, "I feel like I've met you before." So, early on, we get a feeling something supernatural is going on here.
The supernatural overtones continue as Rourke's investigation takes him to New Orleans where he finds himself associating with a fortune teller (Charlotte Rampling), a voodoo priestess (Lisa Bonet) and an aging blues man (actual aging blues man, Brownie McGhee). As often happens during Horrorfest, the bodies start to pile up. The investigation seems to get more confusing the deeper it goes and Rourke starts to fall apart, both mentally and physically, as he gets closer to the truth of this mystery.
I basically guessed the twist ending early on, though didn't exactly nail it, but I think that's a result of two decades of similar movies coming out after this one. I'm pretty sure if I saw this as an adult in 1987 the solution to the mystery would have taken me completely by surprise.
British filmmaker Alan Parker wrote and directed this film, and his trademark visual flair is fully present. The whole movie is beautiful to look at, particularly an early scene in which Mickey Rourke interviews a couple on the beach on a cloudy day shot almost entirely in long shots. Some say Parker's somewhat detached approach to filmmaking leaves his movies lacking a little humanity, and I can see where they're coming from sometimes (see ANGELA'S ASHES) while I totally disagree at others (see PINK FLOYD - THE WALL, one of my favorites). Here, Parker goes way out of his way to make sure the film looks beautiful, is period accurate, and he definitely nails the classic style of the noir and horror genres. Still, his critics would be correct in pointing out the character development and motivation is a little lacking here.
The one thing that rescues the movie from being totally emotionally cold is the performances. Mickey Rourke, as usually, pours his entire self into this role, and can deftly handle drama, horror and comedy with little ego displayed on screen. He's totally content to let it all hang out, and that's the kind of actor you need for a flick like this. Even when the screenplay asks him to ascend to ridiculous heights of lunacy in the final act, he doesn't back down and rises to the challenge.
DeNiro's performance is the opposite, but just as effective. He's so minimalistic, it's almost infuriating, but that's good. It's interesting to see him in this kind of more fantasy based role, and I'd like to see him as some kind of super villain again before his career is over.
Bonet is compelling as the young voodoo priestess, and of course ANGEL HEART is famous for her graphic sex scene. This caused some controversy with fans used to seeing her on the decidely G-rated COSBY SHOW, and that controversy is probably partially why she never had much of a career after this, which is a shame, because she definitely has a presence here.
Watching this film, I couldn't believe I could go so long without seeing a movie with so many elements I love -- noir, Mickey Rourke, Alan Parker. On one hand, it's crazy that this movie has been out since 1987 and I'm just now getting around to watching it. On the other, it's great that I can watch so many movies so often and still find totally awesome stuff I've never seen.
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