Date with an Angel

Date with an Angel is a 1987 American romantic fantasy comedy film starring Emmanuelle Béart, Phoebe Cates and Michael E. Knight. The film was written and directed by Tom McLoughlin. The original music score was composed by Randy Kerber. The visual effects were produced at Boss Film Studios under the supervision of Visual Effects Supervisor Richard Edlund. The film was marketed with the tagline "Jim is about to marry a princess... but he's in love with an angel."

Plot synopsis
Date with an Angel tells the story of Jim Sanders, an executive at a cosmetics company, about to marry Patty Winston, the spoiled daughter of Jim's employer. Jim unknowingly has a brain tumor, and his headaches have gotten worse. It is suggested that he will die, and an angel arrives on the scene, given the task of bringing Jim's soul back to heaven on the night of his engagement party.

After his three buddies, George, Don and Rex, kidnap Jim to take him to another celebration at his home, Jim decides that he has had enough of partying and goes to sleep. Jim later awakes to see a bright light illuminating from his apartment's swimming pool--and discovers an angel knocked unconscious after one of her wings was broken due to colliding with an orbiting satellite. Not wanting to see her be exploited and unable to get the local priest to listen (he thinks Jim is about to do something lewd when he attempts to disrobe the Angel to reveal her wings), Jim decides to keep her shielded from the world while he helps repair her wings. This proves difficult, as the Angel is unable to speak in human language (though she has no trouble understanding it), and is unaccustomed to the limitations/requirements of life as a mortal. However, she does develop a taste for French fries.

Inevitably, his buddies and his boss both discover her in his house; so does Patty, who—not seeing the Angel's wings—thinks that she is a mortal woman having an affair with Jim. Patty later sees the Angel and Jim together on television—Wings still under wraps—as he rescues her from being exposed to the world by his buddies, who had kidnapped her.

They later escape to Jim's former childhood hideaway. In a short time, the Angel's wing is fully healed, allowing her to take flight and return to the pearly gates. However, drunk and delusional, Patty starts chasing Jim with a shotgun; her father, Jim's father, stepmother, and his buddies also arrive to confront him. Amid the chaos, Jim's uncontrollable headaches cause him to collapse to the ground, but the Angel returns to save him, using harmless but frighteningly-placed lightning bolts to drive away Patty and her father, never to return.

Later, in the hospital, Jim's brain tumor gets worse and his situation appears grim. The Angel comes back to see him, finally confirming that it was her original intention to take him to heaven. Instead, she saves him, and in the process is allowed to return to earth as a mortal woman, now able to speak English. She is now a nurse at the hospital. She kisses Jim after assuring him that he will be around and that they will be together for a long time, humorously stating that she has that information "from the highest authority".

Cast
 Michael E. Knight - James 'Jim' Sanders
 Phoebe Cates - Patricia 'Patty' Winston
 Emmanuelle Béart - Angel
 David Dukes - Edward Winston
 Phil Brock - George
 Albert Macklin - Don
 Peter Kowanko - Rex
 Vinny Argiro - Ben Sanders
 Bibi Besch - Grace Sanders
 Cheryl Pollak - Rhonda/Cashier in Market
 Steven Banks - Aldridge
 Charles Lane - Father O'Shea
 J. Don Ferguson - Harlan Rafferty
 Jason Ainley - Smash Loser
 David Barco - Smash Champion

Reception 
Date with an Angel currently holds a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with 7 ratings.

On their show, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert specifically gave the film two emphatic thumbs down, with Ebert complaining that they had picked, along with Teen Wolf Too, the two worst films possible to be released on the same day.

References

External links 
 
 
 
 

Category:1987 films
Category:1980s fantasy-comedy films
Category:1980s independent films
Category:1980s romantic comedy films
Category:1980s romantic fantasy films
Category:American films
Category:American fantasy-comedy films
Category:American independent films
Category:American romantic comedy films
Category:American romantic fantasy films
Category:English-language films
Category:Fictional angels
Category:Films about angels
Category:Films about businesspeople
Category:Films directed by Tom McLoughlin
Category:Films produced by Martha De Laurentiis
Category:Films shot in North Carolina
Category:De Laurentiis Entertainment Group films
Category:Films with screenplays by Tom McLoughlin