Review: Angel Rodriguez (HBO)
10/30/06 12:38 PM
By ED BARK
Deliver him from evil and save him from himself. The devil is in those details for an inner city teen whose computer skills and high school guidance counselor give him at least a scant chance to succeed.
Not that we'll ever fully know. HBO's Angel Rodriguez, premiering Oct. 30 (8 p.m. central, 9 eastern), considers his possibilities before leaving Angel's fate to our imaginations. So don't look for a prototypical "payoff," but do expect to be pulled in by this small, affecting 90-minute film from director Jim McKay (Everyday People). It's a case study in direct, unadorned drama unfolding amid oft-unforgiving surroundings. There's no mood music, whoosh editing or camera tricks. The natural, often raucous sounds of Brooklyn and Manhattan clang and bang in the background while Angel (Jonan Everett in his film debut) mostly proceeds aimlessly. His life needs a life raft, his attitude an adjustment. Give him a chance and chances are he'll squander it. But there's also at least a slight possibility that for once he won't.
Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under and ABC's ongoing Brothers & Sisters) co-stars as guidance counselor Nicole, who's pregnant with her first child and married to a not entirely likeable guy named Henry (Denis O'Hare). They temporarily take Angel into their home while she tries to convince his fed-up father (David Zayas) to take him back. The father has just one scene in the film, but it's an indelible one.
"Do you think this boy deserves respect?" he asks Nicole while Angel sits nearby. "Fine. You give it to him. He's not gonna get it from me. He still wets his bed like a little faggot. Pitiful."
So there's no going home again for a kid who's broken promise after promise. He's both sweet-natured and at times hot-tempered. Both are defense mechanisms. Angel's life seems mapped into a series of dead ends, but maybe someone can still thread the needle. The film encourages us to figuratively hold a candle in the dark for a kid whose vulnerabilities, talents and faults are all self-evident.
Angel Rodriguez also looks at Nicole's latent downward spiral. She administers to troubled kids in knowing, practiced ways. But the impending arrival of her own child is starting to overwhelm and depress her. Angel's life is fraught with peril while Nicole's already seems bought and paid for. Her endless possibilities are slowing to a crawl.
As noted, there's not a speck of a musical soundtrack in Angel Rodriguez. But the closing credits are accompanied by "Thank You For Hearing Me," an instantly hypnotic song written and performed by Sinead O'Connor. In some ways, that's the film's payoff. But first you should invest in this compelling look at a young life that's both blooming and dying on the vine. HBO will be repeating the film throughout November, affording a chance to pick one's spot.
Grade: B+
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