Infamousta brilliant actors, brilliant editing

Whitech It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Lee Eisenberg I had never heard of Tony Kushner's AIDS-themed play before Mike Nichols's TV adaptation aired. I didn't manage to see it when it aired, but I finally got around to seeing it. "Angels in America" is a masterpiece. It's basically a hyperlink story about several individuals who have connections to the spread of AIDS. I found the most fascinating part of the story to be the focus on Roy Cohn (Al Pacino). The erstwhile aide to Joe McCarthy lies dying and is haunted by the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg (Meryl Streep), whom Cohn helped execute. One can see a definitive link between the reactionary views of the McCarthyites and those of the Reaganites, especially in their views of LGBT people.This is a miniseries that everyone should see. The part about Cohn and Rosenberg, along with the relationship between a Jewish man and his AIDS-afflicted WASP partner, the angel, the closeted Mormon and his Valium-addicted wife (plus his mother), and the friend who links the different groups together amount to one of the most powerful stories ever put on stage and screen. It deserved every award that it won.PS: As it turns out, Cohn also worked with a young Donald Trump. Trump's upcoming presidency means that we're likely to see more of the sorts of things that "Angels in America" depicts.

bkoganbing Angels In America may not have the cast of thousands that epic films are supposed to have. It has the length, but more to the point it has the heart. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is still very much with us, AZT is still the preferred method of treatment and control, but we can thank God and a lot of concerned activists that it is not the rare item reserved for the privileged few as we see here.This epic takes it cues in structure and format from such big screen films as Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and later on Crash. A select group of individuals, all fictional but based on people that Tony Kushner knew no doubt. I spotted a few in their I knew including flashing glimpses of myself in passing. That made for some uncomfortable viewing at certain points, but it was appreciative.One real person is here and possibly in a couple more generations people will look at Roy Cohn and ask could such a monster exist? I'm here to say he very much did exist. The Jew who turned his back on his own people, the gay man who refused to admit it to himself because he saw his people as weak and oppressed. These people exist, I knew a gay man who absolutely refused to admit his same sex attraction, he's still with us involved in right wing homophobic groups. And as for his Jewishness he renounced that religion and converted to Russian Orthodox. Talk about self hatred. These people are very real and in positions of power they are deadly.Roy Cohn is played here by Al Pacino and Pacino gives us one bravura performance as the dying monster who gets for himself the precious and at that time rare AZT to prolong a miserable existence. He's the self hating gay who moves with the elite who use homophobia obtain and retain power. Cohn first got public attention as one of the prosecutors in the famous atomic spy case. With what we know now there's no doubt Julius Rosenberg was guilty as charged. What Ethel's role in the case remains murky, she was a devoted wife and a believer in Julius's Marxist ideals. The government however wanted a confession from Julius and Cohn sought to get one. He held Ethel's life in the balance and neither Rosenberg would give up their crime or their accomplices if there were more. The bluff was called and Cohn with the zeal of a rabid dog pushed for her execution.In his miserable last hours on earth Cohn resisting the grim reaper is visited by Ethel Rosenberg and who could blame her for exacting some sadistic torment of Cohn. Her spirit is one of many played by Meryl Streep who took her cues from Alec Guinness from Kind Hearts And Coronets. With two great players like these, these moments in the film are choice.Others in the cast are Ben Shenkman another Jewish gay man involved with Justin Kirk who has come down with AIDS. There's Jeffrey Wright playing a black gay man who is nurse to both Pacino and Kirk. Shenkman works in the xerox room of a white shoe law firm that Cohn has his hooks into and his fair haired boy there is Patrick Wilson, a Mormon married to Mary Louise Parker but who has some same sex attractions.This is quite a mix of characters and away from Pacino and Streep my favorite moment is Shenkman who has broken under the strain of the health issues around Kirk got himself involved with Wilson. When he goes to the law library and reads some of the decisions, the inhumane decisions that Wilson has written for his senile judge for whom he is a clerk, the rage comes forth. He shames Wilson, but in a large degree he expiates his own sins.Pacino as Cohn, Streep as Rosenberg and many others and the rest of this stellar ensemble have created a masterpiece. This will last for centuries as a monument to the many who died, many whom I knew and loved and those who survived and fought to retain dignity and hope.

shaunandria I had no idea what to expect when I started watching and then recording the series! I loved every minute of it! It was a most humble journey, which was probably very painful for some, but strong, emotional and unbelievable for others. I found myself riveted to the television, which doesn't happen often! The fact that this has been aired so long after the subject itself hit the headlines, and we as a nation have evolved with knowledge and help, has meant that Angels was in it's own time an incredibly controversial film, that we can look back with hindsight and be thoroughly disgusted with our attitudes towards the 'gay' communities. I personally feel that it would most definitely benefit a second viewing. Well done to all who were involved.

Michael Donnelly Despite a few A-List actors this is not a mainstream film and thus is not meant for your typical widespread audience with a short attention span. I don't know the details behind who funded this but it was clearly not made to make money, and I am very supportive of anyone who has the courage to take a risk and present a story from their heart - as opposed to selling out to fit Hollywood guidelines. Also, the series was made from a different point of view that most of us will hopefully never get to see in real life, showing suffering in a very visceral way, and that is another aspect that should be applauded.But I am afraid that is where the compliments end for Angels in America. The screenplay was very, very political where the characters either directly or indirectly blame a Republican ideology and President Ronald Regan for the AIDS crisis, as if he and his supporters were the ones that was causing AIDS to spread instead of the common sense fact that AIDS is spread through promiscuous men having unprotected anal sex.Al Pacino does a good job in his portrayal of Roy Cohen although I am sure his character was exaggerated to show more of his perception from the gay community. Aside from that, the film was dark and dreary with absolutely no hope for any of the characters except for their drug induced hallucinations. At the end of the film I didn't feel bad for anyone although I suppose I could have if they weren't portrayed in such a self serving and spiteful fashion. My favorite scenes included Mary Louise Parker as she was the only one that was light-hearted an innocent without an agenda of her own.The far majority of scenes were drawn out and unnecessary. The fact that the same exact story could have been told in 3 hours instead of 6 really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.Again, I support films that go against the tide, especially ones for a cause, but this screenplay, or adaptation rather, was over the top, drawn out and boring.