“City of Angels” delivers heartfelt romance and a swoon-worthy Cage, but does this 90s tearjerker soar or get weighed down by melodrama?
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IN THIS CORNER: KELLY MINTZER
The Lowdown
The Notebook was released during my freshman year of college. My roommates rented it and assured me that unless my heart was in absolute stone, I was going to bawl. I, being primarily of a tender heart, sat ready, willing, and able to cry my eyes out. Friends, I was unmoved.
This anecdote may seem silly, irrelevant for a review of City of Angels, the 1998 remake of Wim Wenders’ masterpiece, Wings of Desire, but I promise I’m bringing this shit around. Here’s the thing: I felt like City of Angels cracked its knuckles, stretched its back, and threw a box of tissues at me, practically declaring, “Sit tight, girlie, we’re opening with a dead kid and hitting the gas from there!”.
I was unmoved.
The basic concept of City of Angels is that an angel with the highly improbable name of Seth (played truly beautifully by Nic Cage—he is unimpeachable in this) falls in love in record time with a surgeon named Meg Ryan and comes around to renounce his angelic nature so that he can fuck her.
Ok, that’s a bit pithy and perhaps needlessly harsh. But through adult eyes, it is VERY hard to feel like Seth’s decision is anything but foolish.
We are shown Seth and Dr. Meg Ryan interacting very little. The movie seems to take place over about two days. Would this movie have been more interesting if Seth had been her guardian angel throughout her life? I think so, but that’s not what we are given.
Here’s the thing: in a lot of ways, CITY OF ANGELS wants to be about how gloriously messy being human is while being shockingly sanitized.
Dr. Meg Ryan and Seth have an absolutely idealized relationship, the kind that only happens when you don’t know the person at all and are in the bright rush of learning them. This might be fine. If it weren’t for the idea that Seth gives up an existence where he hears music all the time and doesn’t feel pain… had the movie done more work to establish Seth as being hungry to experience human life, I would be more ok with the romance part. Since that was NOT done, we are left with an insane amount of pressure being put on a new relationship.
Happy 2-day anniversary; he stopped being an angel for you; better make it worth it.
Instead of doing that, Dr. Meg Ryan acts like a total fucking idiot and decides to ride her bike on an open road with her eyes closed and her hands off the handlebars. Shocking that this leads to death.
Look, mileage is going to vary on this one. I don’t personally find the whole “invisible being watching you when you don’t know they’re watching you because they’re obsessed with you” thing romantic. Weirdly, aspects of Dr. Meg Ryan and Seth’s relationship reminded me of Bella and Edward in Twilight.
There are good things here, most of them being the acting. No one’s phoning it in! Meg Ryan is giving a subtle, lovely performance. Nic Cage brings a wide-eyed charm and a truly grounding kindness to his role. Dennis Franz is as close to an infusion of joy as the movie enjoys, and Andre Braugher… has never given less than 100 percent in his life.
The Cage Factor:
It is, I imagine, abundantly clear that I didn’t care for this movie. But there is DEFINITELY an audience for it. This is Cautious Cage; it’s pretty joyless, but it’s acted to perfection and truly, Cage is great in it. And I’ll give it this much: it made me want to see the Wim Wenders original.
AND IN THIS CORNER: STEPHANIE MALONE
The Lowdown
City of Angels, directed by Brad Silberling, is a wistful romantic drama that explores love, loss, and the existential dilemmas of angels meddling in the human world. It’s a glossy, heartfelt meditation on the sacrifices we make for love—complete with soaring orchestral swells and a chart-topping soundtrack featuring Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris.”
It’s loosely based on the 1987 German masterpiece Wings of Desire. However, if you’re a fan of the latter (if you’re not, shame on you!), you shouldn’t go into your viewing of City of Angels expecting that same kind of soul-stirring philosophical meditation on existence, loneliness, and the weight of history. Both films follow a similar premise, but City of Angels eschews its predecessor’s lyrical and poetic existential exploration in favor of a dialogue-heavy Hollywood romance and grandiose sentimentality.
The film’s central concept is undeniably compelling. Nicolas Cage plays Seth, a solemn angel who observes the lives of mortals with quiet reverence. His fascination intensifies when he meets Maggie (Meg Ryan), a heart surgeon wrestling with faith and loss. Their chemistry is understated but sincere, giving the film an emotional core.
The cinematography is a standout feature. Silberling paints Los Angeles in dreamy hues of gold and gray, transforming mundane cityscapes into ethereal backdrops. The angels’ hauntingly serene presence, perched on skyscrapers or wandering through libraries, creates a visually arresting world that feels mystical yet grounded.
And then there’s the music. If you’ve ever had a wistful moment in your life, chances are “Iris” or Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel” was playing in the background. The soundtrack is a perfect companion to the film’s bittersweet tone.
However, for all its visual beauty and lofty themes, CITY OF ANGELS occasionally stumbles under the weight of its own melodrama.
When young Stephanie first experienced City of Angels, she was seduced by the film’s swoony, schmaltzy, saccharine lure—no doubt aided considerably by Cage at the height of his soulful leading man charms. The hopeful romantic in me was enveloped by the film’s lofty ideas of once-in-a-lifetime love, human connection, and the beauty of sacrifice.
Sadly, an older and more jaded Stephanie felt her heartstrings being pulled and manipulated, but she couldn’t give herself completely to the bathos.
It desperately tried at every turn to destroy me—with its tragic beginning, tragic ending, and maudlin middle—but even the electric chemistry between the two endearing leads and the power of an ethereally voiced Sarah McLachlan, at her “weep or admit you’re dead inside” best, couldn’t convince me the pathos of this doomed love affair was earned.
It’s worth watching for those in the mood for a lush, romantic tearjerker with a touch of metaphysical wonder. The film’s visuals, music, and heartfelt performances make it a memorable—if occasionally heavy-handed—experience. For others seeking the philosophical depth, narrative nuance, and poetic beauty of Wings of Desire, you may be left feeling somewhat cold.
I wanted to scrap with the lovely Kelly on this; I REALLY did. I thought for sure I would. Yet, far more heartbreaking than this earnest and melancholy film is how right she is. It didn’t move me as much as it should.
But, then again, I very well may, in fact, be dead inside—so take this with a grain of salt.
The Cage Factor:
For fans of Nicolas Cage, City of Angels offers a different side of the famously eccentric actor. Here, he’s subdued—almost unnervingly so. Cage’s performance as Seth is marked by quiet intensity, a far cry from his usual bombastic roles. He leans heavily on longing stares and whispered dialogue, which suits the character’s otherworldly nature. The role demands stoicism rather than wild-eyed chaos, and while Cage more than delivers, it’s a performance more suited to quiet introspection than GIF-worthy antics.
If you’re curious about his range as an actor, it provides an intriguing glimpse into his ability to channel tenderness and restraint. And there’s no doubt he’s particularly dreamy, a literal angel with piercing blue eyes who inspires the kind of otherworldly love they write romance novels about. It’s hard to resist if you’re a Cage crusher like me.
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