Michael

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-stic...

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.