directed by:
Peter DeAnello written by: Peter DeAnello genre: Drama |
“Excuse me, Father. No disrespect intended, but if you’re asking me to quit whacking off, you might as well condemn me to hell now.” Amen!
Divine Light Catholic High School Preparatory Seminary has more than a few problems, and they’re far more troubling than whatever troublemaker Danny Nessmith (Louie DeAnello) is up to next. From issues that stem from its residential classmates to the impending potential foreclosure on the entire building imposed by the diocese, Divine Light is suffering in a whole variety of ways. Father Toomey (Dan Lauria) has his work cut out for him, to say the very least, and his job only seems to be getting more difficult by the day by the time a young kid named Joseph Florio (Harper Frawley) enrolls. You’ll find “When Angels Fear” is willing to go much further than you’ll likely anticipate initially. While it appears somewhat surface-level as it begins, it won’t even be twenty minutes in before you discover that this movie is unafraid to go where others won’t - and bring up some incredibly disturbing but important issues. For example, beyond the regular bullying you’d expect to find in any school, you’ll find extremely serious topics like rape, suicide, drugs, and cover-ups that threaten to conceal truths that could certainly use some genuine Divine Light. The question becomes, how far does the corruption go? Is it limited to the usual suspects that would be in charge of such an institution, like Father Toomey himself? Or does it go further than that? Maybe some of these kids are every bit as culpable when it comes to the crimes that are being revealed throughout this story. For the fairly warm glow you’ll find in the filming of “When Angels Fear,” you’ll quickly learn there’s a much darker story that exists underneath the surface of it all. You’d probably have assumed that this movie was about to become a run-of-the-mill faith-based film before it starts to deviate and show the teeth it has in its mix of seriousness and humour. I gotta say – I was tremendously surprised by the level of intellectual discourse & insight that’s threaded into this movie. DeAnello is a straight-up revelation, giving a powerful performance that straddles the line between being the class clown and the most informed person in the room. Watching him take on hypocrisy & religion and discuss the motives of greed & the selfishness of the human condition – good lord, he’s got an absolutely amazing scene of playing Deal Or No Deal with morality – and in the process, he schools us all on much of what this movie wants to communicate to us. A lot of “When Angels Fear” aims to be thought-provoking, and it hits the target like Robin Hood splitting the arrow. It’s all a genuine surprise that you don’t see coming, though – from the tone and tenor this movie has at the very start, you’d really think this was going to be lighthearted fare until it proves to be so much more. In my opinion, “When Angels Fear” should definitely be considered in the same breath as the noteworthy coming-of-age films like “Dead Poets Society,” “Sleepers,” and “School Ties” – this is ultimately really potent stuff, but also expertly infuses humour into the mix when necessary - to keep it all highly engaging without detracting from the importance the issues present. Credit where credit is due: Writer/Director Peter DeAnello is a genuine force to be reckoned with…you wouldn’t want to debate this man on the finer parts of religion and its many inconsistencies/failings because he’d crush you with the facts. The scenes he’s written for Danny Nessmith’s character are nothing short of pure brilliance, and point after point after point, he dissects the promises of religion and sheds a Divine Light on the absolute truth. Perhaps the most crucial thing to mention is not only the degree of accuracy that Peter writes this movie with - but also how fair the guy has been throughout. While it would be easy for some to sluff much of this off as practically anti-religious – I can assure you that you don’t reach the level of knowledge that Peter has without practical experience and a whole lot of dedicated research. He tackles these topics with the ease of a knife cutting through butter because that’s how prepared he was for this moment - when the cameras started rolling on “When Angels Fear” – and he should be genuinely applauded for how ready he was. The credibility he has with his writing is unimpeachable – Peter knows this topic inside and out.
There are precious few things I’d change about this movie, if anything at all. I think that DeAnello still has room to evolve in how he chooses to film things - in order to make things a bit more unique on a visual level, but at the same time, “When Angels Fear” wasn’t the kind of story that called for a whole lot of fancy camerawork either. In fact, scenes like the slowed-down moment deep into the movie end up feeling a little more forced in the sense that it’s the only one we see with effects in that regard. Does “When Angels Fear” need the added extra step of bringing drugs into the storyline? I feel like that’s a bit more debatable…it’s a good plot device that does serve a bit of a purpose in propelling a piece of this story, but I guess you could argue it didn’t feel entirely necessary either, and was a bit of an easy way out in comparison to the level of thought that has been put into the rest of the script. As for the ending itself, I suppose it worked well enough for me, but definitely felt like it wrapped up really quick when you compare that with how well explained every other detail is along the way. I feel like Peter could have shown us a bit more of the present or time in between to make the finale of this movie as memorable as it probably should have been. That happens sometimes, and there’s not too much else you can say about that other than it is what it is. “When Angels Fear” is still a memorable movie for all kinds of reasons along the way, even if the ending doesn’t quite become the highlight we’d want it to be. The cast in this film did a tremendous job all around, with Louie DeAnello and Dan Lauria leading the way to some of the most remarkable scenes you’ll see - and Harper Frawley providing additional highlights as well. I dig what I’ve seen here in this movie, and I feel like “When Angels Fear” stirs up a whole lot of conversations that should definitely be had. All in all, I’m going with a solid four stars out of five – this is a thought-provoking take on the perils of youth, faith, and what separates right from wrong - and really makes a strong effort to present its case from a grounded perspective that we can connect to. |
|
|
More To Check Out.
|
