Release Date: January 16, 1998
Starring: Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Donald Sutherland, Embeth Davidtz, Elias Koteas
Directed by: Gregory Hoblit
Distributed by: Warner Brothers
MPAA Rating: R (violence, language)
My eighth grade English teacher told me that suspense was the most powerful tool in the writer's arsenal. Whether you realize it or not, suspense is what keeps you interested in a movie. Suspense is directly related to how far forward you sit on your chair, as well as to how much pressure you apply to the armrests in the theater. And suspense, the theatrical element which I've been lauding throughout the last paragraph, was decidedly absent in the plot of Fallen.
First off, the plot of Fallen requires a lot of suspension of belief; or, as a character in the movie puts it, faith and belief in God. Whichever way you approach it, you have to be prepared for a weird premise. For most movie-goers this is no problem, for we've been subjected to the likes of movies such as Virtuosity and Spawn. Now that you're past that, you're ready for the story of John Hobbes (Washington), a police detective who's responsible for the capture and execution of Edgar Reese (Elias Koteas). When Reese dies, though, it's revealed that his body was a vessel for the spirit of the fallen angel Azazel. Azazel passes hosts by contact, except when his host dies - then he goes airborne and must find another host within a sixth of a mile.
Denzel Washington, as Detective Hobbes, only manages to touch the audience briefly, and in two seperate parts. The first time is at the beginning, mostly because of the great narrative hook this movie has. His opening lines draw you immediately to the character and his story. Unfortunately, for the next one hundred minutes, Hobbes turns into nothing more than your average, street-smart, syndicated-television-drama policeman. His character is substantially under-emotional. He finally makes it back into the spotlight near the end of the movie, when he makes it to the final duel with the spirit Azazel. At that point the audience feels a simple human desire to be free and identifies with Washington's character in that regard.
Most of the movie revolves around Detective Hobbes' quest to find out what Azazel is. To aid (and hinder) him in this quest are his partner, Jonesy (Goodman) and his lieutenant (Sutherland). These characters were efficiently created, and that's where I give the writer credit: he engineered them to be supporting characters and nothing more. Where I don't like the writing is where the script lacks suspense - almost everywhere, except for two scenes (the scene with Hobbes in the basement and the final scene). This movie's premise, although weird, had a lot of promise and was somewhat mangled by a less-than-energetic script. It's not necessarily recommendable unless you like real-life suspense and what-if scenarios.
all contents © 1998 Craig Roush