|
SYNOPSIS:
As the sole survivor of a massacre at the Boston restaurant
where she was a chef, it's no wonder Reece Gilmore (Heather
Locklear) wants to escape her life. She hits the open road
with no destination in mind, desperate for a fresh start.
When her car gives out in a picturesque Wyoming town, Reece
takes a job at the local diner, hoping to earn enough cash
to keep moving. But as she gets to know the townspeople -
especially a dashing young writer named Brody (Jonathan Schaech)
- she considers putting the past behind her and settling down,
until she witnesses a murder while hiking. Now she's traumatized
again, and not just by the killing; when the cops investigate,
there is absolutely no evidence of the murder, and everyone
doubts her story - which leads Reece to question her own sanity.
MOVIE
REVIEW
Originally
released back on 2006, Angels Fall was one of four novels
from Nora Roberts to get adapted into telemovie. You might
ask who Nora Roberts is. (If you are not as clueless as this
reviewer, kindly skip this and the next paragraph). According
to the trusty online search, her romance novels are over 100
weeks in the No.1 spot in New York Times and she was the first
inductee for Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame.
These
four telemovies of hers, including Montana Sky, Carolina Moon
and Blue Smoke had just been released locally as Dvd release
for those hardcore romantics.
Judging
the premise of Angels Fall and other two DVDs, it seems that
Nora Roberts’ trademark angle at romance would be to
dangle it with a dash of suspense (the serial killers type
of suspense). It’s either that or those folks who behind
the transition of book to the small screen felt that it’s
the best way to market Nora Roberts’ works. Was it a
good choice or transition for all that matters?
Let’s
start with the positive aspect of Angel Falls.
Similarly
to the other DVD releases under the Nora Roberts’ banner,
they all had a fairly well know actress staring in it and
for Angels Fall, we got the babelicious ex Melrose Place star
Heather Locklear as the lead character, Reece Gilmore. If
anything that’s holding the viewer’s interest
in finding out what the secrets are hiding from her character’s
past, it would definitely be Heater Locklear’s on screen
demure sexuality that's oozing from the screen.
The next
positive aspect here would be the picturesque scenery that
plays the backdrop of Angels Fall. It might cause a few viewers
to start searching on the net to find out which part of America
was Angels Fall filmed in. Every scene of the mountains, the
rustic small towns, the rivers and the forest setting are
magnificently breath taking and enticing to those who love
to take a break from the city life.
On the
other hand, the main ingredients for this story (the romance
and the suspense bits) were a let down.
For the
romance section, the chemistry between the lead actress Reece
Gilmore and Brody (Johnathon Schaech) was almost flatline.
The movie tried to make Brody character a lovable jerkass
but only the unlikable part stood out. It was rather unbelievable
why the fragile Reece would want to start any romance with
him.
The suspense
part was “trying”. It tried to make viewers become
interested at every twist and turn with every possible suspects
but let’s just say the geographic location was more
interesting that the little murder mystery that going on in
this film. There was also a part which Brody turns into super
detective and managed to guess something so “unexpected”
correctly that it will make one wonder if this character had
managed to steal the book of fate and flipped a few pages
forward. It was a bit hard to swallow.
The climatic
finale was mild and the surprise, besides coming out of no
where, was a non-event that doesn’t even impress at
all.
But
then again, this telemovie DVD is not out to impress with
spectacular plots or acting. Its main function would be as
an ideal companion to veg out on a lazy weekend or a romantic
piece to cuddle with love ones and for that, it had served
its function well.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
NIL.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
There
is nothing to complain about the disc’s visual transfer,
and there are English, Portuguese and Thai Dolby Digital 5.1
audio tracks to choose from.
MOVIE
RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
NIL
Review
by Richard Lim Jr
|
