Monday At the Movies: Angels and Demons & Those Darn Tear Jerkers

Monday's Movie is hosted by Sheri at A Novel Menagerie.

Movie: Angels and Demons (2009)

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Directed By: Ron Howard
Writers: David Koepp & Akiva Goldsman; Dan Brown (novel)

Synopsis from Fandango:

When Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) discovers evidence of the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the illuminati—the most powerful underground organization in history—he also faces a deadly threat to the existence of the secret organization’s most despised enemy: the Catholic Church. When Langdon learns that the clock is ticking on an unstoppable illuminati time bomb, he jets to Rome, where he joins forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and enigmatic Italian scientist. Embarking on a nonstop, action-packed hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and even to the heart of the most secretive vault on earth, Langdon and Vetra will follow a 400-year-old train of ancient symbols that mark the Vatican’s only hope for survival.

Angels and Demons wastes no time catching viewers up to speed. The pope is dead and a new one must be appointed in his place. The four top candidates for the pope's position are missing, their lives in grave danger as are the lives of everyone in Vatican City. What was a simple experiment in alternative energy resources has resulted in the creation of what can be used as a bomb in the wrong hands, which is exactly where it has ended up. Scientist Vittoria Vetra and symbologist Robert Langdon must unravel the clues and uncover the location of the anti-matter device before it destroys the Vatican.

When I read the novel five years ago, I told my husband that it was a book worth making into a movie. It all had the elements of a great thriller: a race against the clock, a mystery to solve, controversy and intrigue, not to mention great characters. Ron Howard managed to fit all of that into this exciting fast-paced film. It stretched the boundaries of believability, certainly. I couldn't help but wonder how the characters managed to get around so quickly and take care of business in such a short amount of time. Still, the film is pure fun, simple as that.

Changes were made and scenes were left out; the story and characters tweaked for the big screen. Even early synopses of the film carry incorrect information, taken directly from the book, but changed come the time of the movie's release. Even so, the writers and director did a good job in bringing Dan Brown's novel to the screen. Is it as good as the book? When is a movie ever?

The movie is plot-driven, sacrificing character development, and yet several of the actors in more prominent roles manage to assert their personalities enough to make themselves known. Tom Hanks is one of my favorite celebrities both on screen and behind the scenes. He along with Ayelet Zurer who plays the scientist, Vittoria Vetra, make a good team, matching brain power and agility as they try and solve the puzzle before them. The best performance of all was by Ewan McGregor as Camerlengo Patrick McKenna. And I would have loved to have explored Nikolaj Lie Kaas' role as the assassin more. What little I got to see and know of him, just did not seem like enough.

The movie has already garnered its share of controversy, whether from the fact that the author, Dan Brown is the one who also penned The Da Vinci Code or on its own merits, I haven't quite been able to make out. It makes no difference to me either way. As far as I am concerned, Angels and Demons is a entertaining thriller that has earned a place in my DVD collection upon its release. I left the movie feeling entertained and satisfied, which is all I asked.

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The Monday Movie Meme is brought to you by The Bumbles.

This week's movie topic is all about Tear Jerkers . . .

The Bumbles aren't big criers. In fact we find "a good cry" to be quite the oxymoron. So therefore we don't go looking for sad movies - but every now and then a movie tricks us into thinking it is going to be perfectly fun and some damn sad scene gets snuck in there. We put on the brave face, but that stupid tear starts trickling out the corner of an eye and next thing you know, our sleeve is all wet because, being tricked into the sad scene, we didn't have any kleenex handy. Here are the few that really did a number on us. Why don't you share some others with us so that we aren't caught off guard without our tissues?

Unlike Molly and Andy, I am a big crier. Whether it be a book, a movie, a television show, a song and, yes, even a commercial, I can get teary-eyed. It does not matter if it is sad or an especially happy moment. I do not discriminate. My husband thinks it's adorable. I think it's annoying. And yet, I cannot help myself. It's especially funny considering how little emotion I show when other people are around, but that's an entirely different topic altogether.

Let's get back to the topic at hand: movies that make me cry. It might be more interesting to ask me what movies don't make me cry. That might be a bit more challenging. As it is, it will be a challenge to limit my list to five.

ET (How could anyone not cry watching this movie?)
Schindler's List (think of all the World War II movies I could list here!)
Sleepless in Seattle (and countless other romantic comedies.)
Independence Day (I even cried at the beginning of the new Star Trek movie.)
Empire of the Sun (another World War II movie, I know, but I can't help but list it too.)