Angel Eyes

This film is definitely not for everyone. It is a slow-paced romance - a 'people drama' in other words. But these sorts of films are often more rewarding than any tales of gun-toting balls-blazing explosion-making action heroes could ever be. What you get from this genre of film is something that touches the heart... touches the mind... These films are the more worthwhile side of American cinema.

Jennifer Lopez (aka J-Lo from The Wedding Planner and The Cell) stars as Chicago policeperson Sharon Pogue. While chasing a suspect, the tables are turned and she ends up staring down the barrel of their gun. But from the sidelines, a mysterious man comes out of the blue and disarms the suspect, saving Sharon’s life. But who is this mysterious man known as Catch (Jim Caviezel from The Thin Red Line and Frequency)? The mysterious thing is that these two met in a similar situation previously, unbeknownst to them. While doing a background check on Catch, she finds that he is even more mysterious than he appears to be. He is a 'ghost', not known on any database, not seen by anyone; no one knows anything about him. While Shannon investigates her Catch she falls for the mysterious man. This starts the story rolling with events spilling out about Shannon and her family as the film progresses.

Jennifer Lopez looks great on screen. Her beauty comes across in every single frame, and with her acting it is easy to put her music career aside and watch her on screen as an actor. She plays a character that you can empathise with, rather than a character with which you say "oh, I've seen you before." Jim Caviezel is superb on screen, just like in The Thin Red Line. Likewise, he is a loveable character for whom you can really feel.

The video is presented in the widescreen ratio of 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

The image on screen in consistently sharp, as we have come to expect from Village Roadshow. The sharpness is superb with no signs of edge enhancement.

There are only a few small occasions where grain is apparent, and none of these are at all distracting. Film artefacts occur briefly and are, again, not distracting to the average eye.

As with many transfers, slight aliasing can be seen on blinds, powerlines and buildings. These are not too noticeable, and are only briefly apparent.

The colours look great on screen and are rich and full of life. They are not as vibrant as they could be, and appear slightly muted, but according to the director this was his intention. There are no signs of colour bleeding, nor background MPEG artefacts.

This is a dual layered disc, with the layer change occurring between scenes at 83:02. It is fairly neat, but the cut in audio, as on Sleepy Hollow gives the change away.

There is one dialogue audio track, and that is in Dolby Digital 5.1 English.

Thankfully, dialogue is crystal clear and audible throughout the feature, with no distortion or peaking. Being a dialogue-driven film, this is to be expected. Unfortunately there are one or two slight instances where there are some slight audio sync problems, as the voices were re-recorded during post production. Whilst not particularly distracting, they are noticeable.

The surround channels are used to carry the effects and score only, with little discrete sound effects usage. The score is from Marco Beltrami of Scream and The Watcher fame. The score is suitable for the mood of the movie, and is original considering his usual style of music.

The soundtrack creates an enveloping stage which sounds great to the audience. It is richly added to by the subtle subwoofer track that kicks in every now and then.

The main menu is static with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio as accompaniment. The same audio is used on the 'Extra Features' page. The transition between the main menu and the 'Extra Features' page is intensely satisfying. There aren't a great deal of extras, only a commentary and three trailers.

The trailer for Angel Eyes is presented in the widescreen aspect of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced, featuring Dolby Digital 2.0 audio. The image is very clean and looks great. It does mispromote the film though, and expresses it as a thriller rather than a romance.

The two preview trailers are for The Wedding Planner and The Caveman's Valentine. These are both 1.85:1 and are 16x9 enhanced. Both feature Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.

The director's commentary is fairly boring as director Luis Mandoki drones on about the film with nothing at all interesting or intriguing to say.

A great drama unfolds on the screen with two talented upcoming actors taking the reigns. Sit down, cuddle up and watch this film with someone you love. The video looks good, and the audio suits the genre. The extras are lacking, but what can you do? Angel Eyes is a rare genre of film - straight romance without that over-used word "comedy" around. You can now see Jennifer Lopez as she has never been seen before.