Summary:

Since the movie “Angels & Demons” still seems to be selling strong in the Gainesville metro area, I thought I’d offer my two cents’ worth. I saw the Ron Howard film on June 7, after much inner debate, given my misgivings over Dan Brown’s last heavily promoted, much-debated book The Da Vinci Code, and its subsequent movie.

As a marketing professional, a writer, and a Christian, I wore many ‘hats’ into the theatre that night, fully expecting to be offended, if not unimpressed.  How surprised I was to discover that as the closing credits ran, that my general impression of the movie was positive. I felt it was a work that in general, portrayed faith and God in an objective, even supportive light, all the while picturing mortal man as very much flawed.

Factual and historical errors appear to be plentiful in Brown’s second work (see Dr. Timothy Paul Jones’ review in the June 4 issue at www.FloridaBaptistWitness.com). For example, according to Dr. Jones, Brown’s novel and Tom Hank’s film character Dr. Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbologist, both argue that Galileo was much-persecuted Illuminati. Firstly, Gailileo lived in the 1500s and research has shown that the Illuminati did not exist until 1776 or so. And secondly, Jones reports, records show that Galileo was convicted while on trial because he lied under oath, not due to his beliefs, religious or otherwise. Once sentenced, he lived out his life under ‘house arrest,’ still able to receive visits from his daughters and carry out scientific research. A far cry from torture, some might say.

Fact-juggling aside, I found ‘Angels’ to be a much more human, digestible work than the dark gore filling every crevice of “The Da Vinci Code.” Perhaps director Ron Howard saw the light, realizing that viewers might prefer to be persuaded by watching the richly drawn characters make split-second decisions in the midst of crisis and ambiguity, not to be barraged at every turn by the religious ‘facts’ that Langdon and the other main characters forced on viewers in the previous film.

The plot’s twists are enhanced by Ewan McGregor’s performance as the late pope’s earnest and painfully thin camerlengo, the right-hand man who ascends to substantial power temporarily, as the conclave to select a new pop convenes. Also, finely pitched performances by Armin Mueller-Stahl as the senior cardinal coordinating the College’s voting and Pierfrancesco Favino as one of a number of dashing and loyal police officers, as just two memorable performances. The film’s casting director must have hired every distinguished-looking older Italian man within two hundred kilometers, to fill out the ranks of the College of Cardinals-- rosaries, wrinkles, and all.

For me, a scene illustrative of the more personal ‘touch’ Howard and company brought to this film was early on, when the camerlengo (McGregor) demands of Hank’s character, before he is admitted into the Vatican Archives, whether or not the professor believes in God. After some stammering, Dr. Langdon simply says, “Faith is a gift I have yet to receive.” By the end of his 24-hours in Vatican City, after witnessing death and other sacrifice by those who believe in a high cause, Langdon seems to grasp that faith, and God, is not to be found on the ceiling of the Sistene Chapel so much as within arm’s reach.

In the end, considering “Angels & Demons” to be a spiritually significant work is like calling an issue of Dick Tracy fine literature. Nevertheless, for some summer entertainment set against Rome’s dramatic architecture, it’s not a ‘bad read.’ It just may be a great place to start a stimulating conversation with a friend. Two stars on a five-point scale.

If you would like more information about Angels & Demons, checkout our previous article Angels & Demons...does anyone get it? and another revelant article on Defining Moments with Gary Crawford.

Kay Quinn - Morgan & Quinn Public Relations - is a veteran public relations and marketing professional who also has a heart for interesting topics that are socially relevant. Kay can be reached via email.