"Angels in America" is an HBO television mini-series about Americans facing AIDS in the 1980s, based on Tony Kushner'sPulitzer Prize winning play by the same name. Set in New York, the mini-series tells the story of two troubled couples whose fates become intertwined: Louis Ironson and Prior Walter, gay lovers who are torn apart when one discovers that he has AIDS, and Joe and Harper Pitt, a Mormon lawyer and his wife, who are separated by their fantasies. Directed by Mike Nichols with a screenplay by the original playwright, the six-chapter drama was originally aired on two Sunday evenings in December 2003. In September 2004, "Angels in America" won a record 11 Emmy awards, matching the number of awards won by "Eleanor and Franklin" in 1976. In addition to being honored as the outstanding mini-series, it garnered a best screenplay award for Tony Kushner, a best director award for Mike Nichols, and acting trophies for Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jeffrey Wright. The production won four technical Emmys as well.
Themes: Miraculous Events, Living With AIDS, Crumbling Marriages
Main Cast: Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Mary-Louise Parker, Jeffrey Wright, Justin Kirk, Patrick Wilson, Ben Shenkman
Release Year: 2003
Country: US
Run Time: 360 minutes
Plot
The epic HBO miniseries Angels in America is directed by Mike Nichols and written by the play's author, Tony Kushner. This six-part drama is adapted from the two full-length award-winning plays (Part I: The Millennium Approaches and Part II: Perestroika) originally performed on Broadway in 1993. Set in New York City during the mid-'80s, the story follows the interconnected lives of several people affected by the AIDS crisis, intense spiritual experiences, and the Reagan Administration. Newcomer Justin Kirk plays Prior Walter, a young man dying of AIDS. Things are made worse when he's abandoned by his lover, Jewish court clerk Louis Ironson (Ben Shenkman). Then he's visited by an Angel (Emma Thompson), who keeps crashing through his roof and insisting that he's a prophet.
Meanwhile, conservative power monger Roy Cohn (Al Pacino) is also dying of AIDS, but he's in serious denial about it. While in the hospital, he's continually visited by the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg (Meryl Streep), a woman he had sent to the electric chair. Roy's protégé is Mormon lawyer Joe Pitt (Patrick Wilson), who also tries to deny his own homosexuality. Joe's estranged wife Harper (Mary-Louise Parker) suffers from a Valium addiction and has an acute sensitivity to the world around her. Joe leaves her to start up a relationship with Louis, who works in his building. Jeffrey Wright reprises his stage role of the trusty friend and nurse Belize. Angels in America first aired in two parts on HBO during December of 2003. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Review
Billing itself as a major television event, Tony Kushner's award-winning play Angels in America is an ambitious project, to say the least. Fortunately, it's directed by theatrically trained veteran filmmaker Mike Nichols (who's enjoyed much success with stage-to-screen adaptations ever since his first film, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, in 1966). As a six-hour epic aired in two long segments, Angels marked a scheduling precedent on HBO. Such a huge project is destined to become overwhelming, and this is no exception. The high language, splashy special effects, and supernatural dream logic are surely too much for the casual cable TV viewer. However, those who appreciated the Broadway smash in 1993 will most likely be delighted by the careful construction and presentation of the source material in this version. Although it's quite a task to top the original Tony-winning Broadway actors, this cast is full of well-known names who are up to the challenge. Two of the biggest stars on the roster, Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson, seem to be having the most fun in their showy multiple roles. Thompson gets to shout flowery lines while in midair, and Streep is just a doll as the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg. As Roy Cohn, Al Pacino gets to play yet another despicable creature, while Mary-Louise Parker is as good as ever playing a long-suffering wife. Relative newcomers Justin Kirk, Patrick Wilson, and Ben Shenkman are all appropriately handsome leads involved in a love triangle, while Jeffrey Wright trumps them all by reprising his stage role of down-to-earth yet flamboyant nursemaid Belize. All of the performers are top-notch at delivering Kushner's poetic prose. Admittedly, it's difficult to view the subject matter in light of the political era in which it was written -- especially given that the state of the world has since worsened (considering the role that AIDS, conservative politics, and religious intolerance have played since the '80s). When seen as a period piece, however, Angels in America is a beautifully excessive drama that seems to have arrived at just the right time. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
