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Extravagantly mounted on a budget that reportedly topped $60 million, this small-screen adaptation of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning play is an extraordinarily complex and rewarding work of art. Set during the mid-'80s, when America was being battered by the first wave of AIDS deaths, it depicts the variegated reactions of numerous people whose contact with the dread disease, however ephemeral, irrevocably changes their lives. One of them is the infamous McCarthyite lawyer Roy Cohn (ferociously played by Al Pacino), himself an AIDS sufferer who personifies the hypocrisy and callousness of the "official" response to the plague. His lack of empathy is stunning; even on his own deathbed, he castigates his gay nurse (Jeffrey Wright, reprising his Tony-winning stage role) and taunts the spirit of the woman he helped put to death, accused Communist spy Ethel Rosenberg (Meryl Streep, who essays three major roles). Another patient, Prior Walter (Justin Kirk), is visited by an angel (Emma Thompson) after being deserted by his self-pitying lover, Louis (Ben Shenkman). Louis becomes involved with closeted gay man Joe Pitt (Patrick Wilson), a Mormon lawyer whose distraught wife (Mary-Louise Parker) eventually becomes delusional. These characters periodically collide as the plot develops, and their interactions are memorable, thanks largely to the cast's uniformly superb delivery of Kushner's witty, direct, and occasionally poetic dialogue. Angels in America reflects the anger so deeply felt by AIDS activists, and its implicit and explicit indictments of Reagan-era inaction fix blame for the epidemic's spread on the federal government. There's no denying the power of its brilliantly realized presentation, and one critic called this HBO presentation "a transcendent work of art" with ample justification. It's a thought-provoking, unforgettable film that will leave a lasting impression on all who see it. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

The epic HBO miniseries Angels in America is directed by Mike Nichols and written by the play's author, Tony Kushner. This six-part drama is adapted from the two full-length award-winning plays (Part I: The Millennium Approaches and Part II: Perestroika) originally performed on Broadway in 1993. Set in New York City during the mid-'80s, the story follows the interconnected lives of several people affected by the AIDS crisis, intense spiritual experiences, and the Reagan Administration. Newcomer Justin Kirk plays Prior Walter, a young man dying of AIDS. Things are made worse when he's abandoned by his lover, Jewish court clerk Louis Ironson (Ben Shenkman). Then he's visited by an Angel (Emma Thompson), who keeps crashing through his roof and insisting that he's a prophet.

Meanwhile, conservative power monger Roy Cohn (Al Pacino) is also dying of AIDS, but he's in serious denial about it. While in the hospital, he's continually visited by the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg (Meryl Streep), a woman he had sent to the electric chair. Roy's protégé is Mormon lawyer Joe Pitt (Patrick Wilson), who also tries to deny his own homosexuality. Joe's estranged wife Harper (Mary-Louise Parker) suffers from a Valium addiction and has an acute sensitivity to the world around her. Joe leaves her to start up a relationship with Louis, who works in his building. Jeffrey Wright reprises his stage role of the trusty friend and nurse Belize. Angels in America first aired in two parts on HBO during December of 2003. Andrea LeVasseur

Product Details

• UPC: 026359229923
• Source: HBO HOME VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Time: 5:52:00
• Sales Rank: 2,380

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