Almost an Angel
| Almost an Angel | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | John Cornell |
| Produced by | John Cornell |
| Written by | Paul Hogan |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Maurice Jarre |
| Cinematography | Russell Boyd |
| Edited by | David Stiven |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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December 19, 1990 |
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Running time
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95 minutes |
| Country | US |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $25 million |
| Box office | $6,939,946 (USA) |
Almost an Angel is a 1990 American comedy film directed by John Cornell and starring Paul Hogan. The original music score was composed by Maurice Jarre. The film's tagline is: "The guy from down under is working for the man upstairs."
It was made after Paul Hogan's success with the Crocodile Dundee movies (which were also from Paramount Pictures), but the film was a critical and commercial failure.
Terry Dean (Paul Hogan), a professional burglar specialized in sabotaging electronic surveillance systems, stands before his release from yet another stint in prison. Following a fellow inmate's suggestion, he decides to switch to bank robbery instead, with a special twist of his own design: first by having the security cameras record TV shows he would connect them to with a modified remote control, then entering disguised as a celebrity; the confusion over this unexpected appearance would serve to confound a detailed description.
Terry's first heist (disguised as Willie Nelson) is successful, but shortly afterwards he witnesses a young boy about to be overrun by a van; he impulsively pushes the child away and is himself hit. While in the hospital, he has a nebulous experience (which may have been caused by Highway to Heaven playing on the room's TV) in which he meets God (Charlton Heston; this is used as a pun later on) who introduces himself as Terry's 'probation helper'. Though Terry has lived a sinful life, his last deed, impulsive as it was, has earned him a second chance to save his soul - by doing God's work as an angel in training.
After reawakening, Terry tries another bank hold-up (this time disguised as Rod Stewart), but a stroke of luck occurs and a gang of amateur robbers interfere. As they escape, one of the thugs tries to shoot Terry, but gun was loaded with blanks by one of the other thugs. Thinking himself to be an immortal angel now, Terry reconsiders his ways, seeks advice in a church, and then he follows several 'signs' to another town. In a bar, he meets Steve Garner (Elias Koteas), an embittered young man confined to a wheelchair by a terminal sickness. In order to bring Steve out of his self-pity, Terry engages him in a fist-fight on equal terms, sitting fixed on a stool. Steve, taken with Terry's acceptance of him as a person, not a cripple, strikes up a friendship with Terry and offers him a place to stay at the youth center for children and teens, which he runs with his sister Rose (Linda Kozlowski).
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