April 11, 1998 -- "City of Angels" is essentially a remake of Wim Wender's movie "Wings of Desire," in fact, Wim Wenders co-wrote the screenplay for this remake. While this film is a little more enjoyable than the original, there really wasn't any need for a remake.

For those of you that haven't seen the original. The story has to do with angels. They stand around, looking bored, invisible, listening to people's thoughts, watching them, and escorting them to heaven when they die. They live forever, but they can't smell, touch, taste, or feel anything.

One of the angels, Seth (Nicholas Cage) falls in love with a pretty, feisty doctor, Maggie Rice (Meg Ryan). He also meets a former angel, Nathan Messinger (Dennis Franz of TV's "NYPD Blue), who tells him about the advantages of falling to earth to become a human being.

So Seth must choose between eternal life or a limited life on earth. You don't need many guesses to figure this one out. Cage, Ryan and Franz are all quite good in their roles. The love story between Seth and Maggie is low-key, but it works. The film rates a B, but I kept getting this strange felling of deja vu when I watched it.

Click here for links to places to buy this movie in video and/or DVD format, the soundtrack, books, even used videos, games and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.