John Travolta

Andie MacDowell

William Hurt

Bob Hoskins

Robert Pastorelli

Jean Stapleton

Teri Garr

Wallace Langham

Joey Lauren Adams

Carla Gugino

Tom Hodges

Catherine Lloyd Burns

Richard Schiff

Calvin Trillin

Donald J. Lee Jr.

JoAnn Fregalette Jansen

David Harrod

Jane Lanier

John Hussey

Margaret Travolta

David M. Bernstein

Betsy Sokolow-Sherman

Tracey A. Doyle

Blue Deckert

Deborah Nunez

Dell Aldrich

Kay Colvin

James N. Harrell

Peyton E. Park

Dianne Dreyer

Tim Harrison

Daniel Mimura

Mark Nutter

Thomas F. Evans

Stephen Bruton

Dominic Paolo Testa

Tom Woodruff Jr.

Jim Quinlan

Elizabeth McBride

Nora Ephron

Delia Ephron

Peter Dexter

Sean Daniel

John Lindley

Geraldine Peroni

Dan Davis

Randy Newman

Mary Goldberg

James Jacks

Corey Michael Eubanks

Lauren E. Polizzi

Keith Neely

Jonathan D. Krane

Martin Schaer

Adele Plauche

Martin Lasowitz

Alan B. Curtiss

Zade Rosenthal

David Blitstein

Geoffrey Patterson

Bob Hudgins

Robert Huberman

Michael Kirchberger

G. Mac Brown

Beau Baker

Gary Levy

Deborah K. Larsen

James E. Tocci

Leslie Ann Anderson

Charles Croughwell

Henry Cline

Jane McCulley

C.P. 'Phil' Schriber

Keiko Deguchi

Jennifer Davidoff Cook

Denney Pierce

John Branagan

Ray Conchado

Ben Scott

Comedy

Drama

Fantasy

Michael

Alphaville Films

Turner Pictures

Warner Bros. Pictures

United States of America

***Testifies to the JOY of living itself***

Michael, excellently portrayed by John Travolta, is an unorthodox Archangel enjoying his last mission (vacation?) to Earth. A supermarket tabloid from Chicago sends a team to Iowa to get a story and pictures; after discovering that he's a real angel they naturally want to bring him back to the big city.

What works best is that the story is essentially a fun-spirited road movie. William Hurt, Andie MacDowell and Robert Pastorelli have an exceptional time meeting Michael and trying to escort him back to Chicago. Michael acts like a tourist having the time of his life, humorously wanting to see those silly little 'attractions' dispersed across the countryside (e.g. "the world's biggest non-stick frying pan," etc.) -- you know, the ones most of us adults roll our eyes at.

Lots of fun things and miracles take place along the way. What struck me the most about Michael (the angel) is that he has a genuine spirit of JOY. The simple joy-of-living-itself is all over him; and this has a phenomenal impact on the people around him. It's something most of us could learn from Michael.

The film has loads of laughs and, surprisingly, even some profundities.

The film runs 105 minutes and was shot in Texas, Iowa and Chicago.

GRADE: A

Andie MacDowell was once the most adorable person in Hollywood wasn't she? And I mean that as it utterly charming. And the same goes for her performance here, she turns up the charm and does her best to sell the role.

But, unfortunately, Travolta (fresh from his Pulp Fiction rebirth) is playing his Vincent Vega role in the comedy and is entirely out of place throughout it.

Really, if you are a Travolta fan you should just watch Pulp Fiction, it's basically him doing the same thing in a film where it works and feels appropriate.

Here, well, here you just have Andie MacDowell attempting to charm the film into a success, while Travolta still thinks he's working with QT.

Português

English

Michael (1996) Official Trailer - John Travolta, Andie MacDowell Movie HD