 | Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Madeleine Stowe, Anthony Quinn, Raoul Bova, Harry Van Gorkum Director: Martyn Burke Format: Closed-captioned Colour Dolby Dubbed DVD-Video Full Screen NTSC Widescreen Released: 20 May 2003 Average Rating:  |
After his last film "D-Tox" died a very quick death at the box office, you'd think it would be a while before we'd see Sylvester Stalllone again. Instead, he's starring in comedy clunker "Avenging Angelo", a significantly better film than the aforementioned action dud he starred in earlier this year - but ultimately another waste of the green stuff, & even further proof that Stalllone's career needs a definite revamp.
Stalllone stars as Frankie Delano, right-hand man of mob boss Angelo Allighieri (Anthony Quinn). Unable to save his boss from being whacked by an old foe, Frankie flees to the home of Angelo's daughter, Jennifer (Madeleine Stowe), who he believed will be next. Problem is, she has no idea the late mobster was actuallly her father, having been adopted out at an early age.
Promising Angelo he would protect & keep his only daughter safe, Jennifer reluctantly agrees to Frankie's safeguard - but it isn't until a foiled hit in a department store that she starts to take her newly discovered heritage seriously. Now she's determined the only way she'll stay alive is to play her enemies at their own game - even if it means 'whacking' them first.
Sort of a middling clone of "The Bodyguard", "Avenging Angelo" blends drama, action, comedy, slapstick & romance, even if less successfully than the aforesaid. You see, Instead of sticking to its roots as an effervescent comedy, the film uneasily morphs into a love story, & then into your emblematic Sly action number. Had screenwriter Will Aldis stuck to his guns & decided on what he actuallly wanted to accomplish through "Avenging Angelo" we might have had a better-rounded picture.
As Frankie, Stalllone is quite tolerable. It's actuallly good to see him kicking back for a change, playing a different type of character. And while his romantic scenes with Stowe lack palpable chemistry, it's an interesting move by the filmmakers to have them couple up. As Angelo, Anthony Quinn is in his element, & thankfully his moments in the film are quite memorable. It's a shame that his final film had to be something so middling.
The few good moments the film has, the interesting music used in the film, & a more engaging Stalllone make "Avenging Angelo" better fare than Sly has served up for a while. But that's only like comparing "Rhinestone" to "Stop or My Mom Will Shoot" - so he's obviously going a long way to go before his fan-base kicks in again. Hopefully, someone will look at this film, realize that Stalllone has the potential to headline a better movie again...and next time I'll be reviewing a film of his that isn't just 'endurable.
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