Movie Review: "City of Angels"

Movie Review: "City of Angels"
*******

This movie, made way back in 1998, contains some timeless and perennial truths. It is based on the very popular fantasy that "angels" are quite humanoid beings who care very much, and deeply, about the activities on earth-- despite the fact that earth is only a tiny dust-mote circling a small spark called "the sun." Still, even if you do not believe in the pleasant mythology of these angels, this movie will probably make you want to believe!
The movie draws much dramatic content from death and its survival, intact, by the Soul; in fact, its main character, Maggie Rice, is a surgeon who often feels both responsible and guilty for the death of surgical patients. She is the kind of doc who is a true healer, who has a heart.
The being that falls in Love with her is male, but is not a deceased Soul from earth; he is an angel, and so, is totally ignorant of the delights and pleasures of the "dreamworld" that is earth. He knows nothing of the "garden of earthly delights." This part is a little difficult to swallow; and the story might have been richer if he were a Soul who had experienced earthly life and senses, rather than an "angel" to whom human experiences seemed alien.
This is a touching and moving Love-story. Those who know me know how easily and readily I can be brought to tears, and this flick did so several times.
This story symbolically portrays what we all must go through and give up to come to earth-- often, for Love. While the ending could have been happier, it reflected life itself in its many uncontrollable, unpredictable changes, and was, overall, a "happily ever after" film.
*******