'Angel Eyes' Movie Review

Did you know that you can tell if you are genetically compatible with someone by their scent--had a chemistry professor in college that gave a whole lecture on that. There is a great line in the movie where he says something about smelling their destiny. This movie is full of interesting moments like that. The script itself is great. The acting is good, the story fair, its the pacing that kills this film. It would have been great film if they had gotten the pacing right.

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The story begins with an accident. Catch played by James Caviezel loses his whole family in the accident. Sharon Pogue a policewoman (Jennifer Lopez) is at the scene of the accident. After the accident, Catch stalks Sharon until he has the opportunity to save her life. Then they become involved. Their blooming romance hits rocky shores as they both have to face their past. Catch has blotted out his whole past life--starting from scratch as he calls it. He lost a minute and his whole life with it.

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He must find himself to be able to commit to a relationship. Sharon and her family have issues that they must work through before she can be whole. Her father beat her mother and she brought in outside interference--finally, and her whole family blames her for doing the right thing. This is another human interest story--with people sorting though relationships and situations. Its kind of a slow film--probably too slow--the pacing is this film's whole problem.

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The acting is good on Lopez's part. She plays the part of the angry, commitment shy, female cop to perfection. But James Caviezel performance is outstanding. He plays the role of the lost man wonderfully well. His acting job is worth the watching of the whole film. He seems to be somewhere else and then he wakes up and joins the world again for a moment then he is gone again. Its a great performance. The other roles were well played but not especially memorable. The script is well done. Since this is a film of little action the script is highly important and it does real well. The conversation does not sound fake or stilted. There is also some great one-liners delivered by Catch's character like the smelling your destiny bit.

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The cinematography is well done. There are a lot of tilted scenes that have a particular symbolic significance in the film. The flashback scenes were done well.

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If the pacing had been done better then this movie would have been a great movie--as it is, it is a good film. I would recommend watching this one if you are in a mood for a movie that will require a bit of thought. It might bring a tear to your eye as well.