Angie is a 1994 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Martha Coolidge and written by Todd Graff, based on Avra Wing's 1991 novel Angie, I Says. It stars Geena Davis as Angie Scacciapensieri, alongside James Gandolfini, Stephen Rea, Aida Turturro and Philip Bosco. The film was released in the United States by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution on March 4, 1994, and grossed $9.4 million domestically.

Plot Angie Scacciapensieri is an office worker from Bensonhurst who feels increasingly dissatisfied with the life expected of her. After becoming pregnant by her longtime boyfriend Vinnie, she decides to have the baby but refuses his proposal of marriage. Her decision shocks her family and friends, including her best friend Tina. While visiting an art museum, Angie meets Noel, an Irish lawyer, and begins a relationship with him as she tries to imagine a different future for herself.

Angie's pregnancy forces her to confront unresolved feelings about her own mother, Joanne, who left when Angie was three. Her relationship with Noel continues through the pregnancy, but after Angie gives birth to a son with a congenital defect in one arm, Noel admits that he is unwilling to take on the responsibilities of fatherhood and reveals that he is still married. Their relationship ends, and Angie struggles to bond with her baby, becoming convinced that she is repeating her mother's mistakes.

Angie leaves New York in search of Joanne, with Tina eventually joining her. In Texas, Angie discovers that her mother has schizophrenia and has been living in a severely impaired state for years, overturning Angie's belief that Joanne simply abandoned her family for a better life. Realizing that she is in danger of abandoning her own child in the same way, Angie returns home after learning that the baby has developed pneumonia.

At the hospital, Angie reconciles with her father and accepts the support of her family, including her stepmother Kathy. The baby, whom the family has begun calling Sean, recovers after Angie promises that she will remain with him. Having come to terms with her mother's illness and her own fears about motherhood, Angie accepts responsibility for raising her son and begins to view herself as part of a larger family rather than someone who must escape it.

Cast The cast includes: Geena Davis as Angie Scacciapensieri James Gandolfini as Vinnie Stephen Rea as Noel Aida Turturro as Tina Philip Bosco as Frank Scacciapensieri Jenny O'Hara as Kathy Scacciapensieri Michael Rispoli as Jerry Rosemary De Angelis as Aunt Vicky Rae Allen as Aunt Violetta Frank Pellegrino as Uncle Marty Olga Merediz as Roz Betty Miller as Joanne Scacciapensieri

Production Producer Larry Brezner began developing Avra Wing's novel Angie, I Says in 1991. By late 1992, Madonna was attached to star and Jonathan Kaplan to direct, with Todd Graff writing the screenplay. Madonna left the project after a scheduling conflict arose with another film she was committed to (Dangerous Game), and Joe Roth replaced her with Geena Davis. The Washington Post reported that Davis would not approve Kaplan as director; Kaplan departed and Martha Coolidge joined the project. Madonna later sent Roth a letter objecting to the decision to replace her.

Production began in New York in 1993, with location filming in Bensonhurst. Davis prepared for the pregnancy and childbirth scenes by speaking with pregnant women and recent mothers, consulting obstetricians and other specialists, and working privately with a birth coach. Coolidge also employed technical advisers for the actors and crew involved in the hospital sequences. Larry Brezner and Patrick McCormick produced the film, with Johnny E. Jensen serving as cinematographer, Steven Cohen as editor and Jerry Goldsmith composing the score.

Release Angie had a benefit premiere at the Avco Cinema in Westwood, Los Angeles, on February 28, 1994, opening the ninth International Women's Film Festival presented by Women in Film. Buena Vista Pictures Distribution released the film theatrically in the United States on March 4, 1994. It opened in 808 theaters and grossed $2.8 million during its opening weekend, eventually earning $9.4 million at the domestic box office.

Reception

Angie received a 56% approval rating from 18 critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times praised Geena Davis's performance, calling her assured and convincing in the title role, but criticized the film itself as overly dependent on conventional melodramatic situations. Roger Ebert similarly praised Davis and her scenes with Aida Turturro, while arguing that the film lost direction in its second half under the weight of increasingly contrived plot developments. By contrast, John Goff of Cash Box praised the film's balance of comedy and drama, its characterization and Davis's performance. Mike Mayo of The Roanoke Times later included Angie among his ten worst films of 1994.

Awards Casting director Juliet Taylor was nominated for the Artios Award for Best Casting for Feature Film, Comedy at the Casting Society of America Awards in 1994.

References

External links

Angie at Box Office Mojo