City of Angels (1998)

With its spiritual underpinnings and ethereal soundtrack (esp. Sarah Mclachlan's hauntingly expressive In the Arms of the Angels), City of Angels is an atmospheric tour-de-force that weds heaven to earth, spirit to flesh, and bliss to sorrow. Nicolas Cage is Seth, a sojourning angel who accompanies mortals at their passing; when they can see him, they are literally at death's door. Seth and other angels walk amidst human society, wearing stylish longcoats in place of robes, and communally greet each day's sunrise in a beachfront assembly that's invisible to us. Seth is doe eyes and innocence but all the more curious about human suffering after he witnesses Meg Ryan as an emergency-room doctor who is fighting furiously for her patient's life. Without knowing what it is about yet drawn like a moth to a candlestick, Seth falls in love with her and wonders what it would be like, as a human, to hold her, to love her, and to be loved back. He gets some advice from Dennis Franz as a wheezing cardiac patient, and for better or ill he acts on it. City of Angels bears witness to celestial and human bliss as well as to earthly loss, sorrow, and healing. It is a monumental testimony to the richness and beauty of earthly life and our hope of a heavenly home. It portrays "the better angels of our nature" and thankfully reminds our postmodern society that there is more to life than consumerism and empty pleasure -- there is courage and sacrifice, uttermost love and ineffable joy. 5 stars.