Avenging Angelo

Sylvester Stallone must continue to bodyguard Madeleine Stow even after her mafioso father, who gave her up as an infant has died in a romantic-comedy that is neither romantic nor funny. Being a fan of Sly is certainly not for the faint of heart. We suffer bomb after bomb after bomb, just hoping against hope that somehow his next one will be better. It never is, but that's part of our delusion you see. Mr. Stallone uses his gun in this film, that if it were the real world anyone normal would tear up his permit poste haste. making dinner using the loaded gun as a hammer, shooting said loaded gun at the ceiling for no reason. Yup everything, but using the weapon as, say, i don't know, defending against a bad guy who's an obvious threat to a loved one, because that would be too silly. At just over an hour and a half running time, this film is about 96 minutes too long. I'm kidding of course, just not by much. My Grade: D DVD Extras: Both the widescreen and fullscreen option; Commentary with Director, Martyn Burke; Making-of Featurette; writers' interview; USA and International trailers Eye Candy: Carin Moffat shows fleeting yammerers

Wow. If Sylvester Stallone has made a worse movie than this I've never seen it and, hopefully, never will. Painfully unfunny mob comedy stars Stallone as a bodyguard trying to protect the daughter of his former boss. Madeline Stowe is horribly, fatally miscast. She's not only ten years too old for her part but she plays her character so broadly, particularly in early scenes, that she comes across as little more than a cartoon. Stallone is relaxed and affable, so much so that it's difficult to believe him as a mobster. Absolutely nothing in this movie works--the comedy is flat, the action sequences poorly staged and unexciting, the romance doomed since Stallone and Stowe have no chemistry.

Stallone and Stowe performs here in this ridiciolous little 1½ hour movie. Its So boring and trys to be funny and romantic and deep at the same time with absolutely no succes....A complete waste of time! I thought it would be a suspense thriller but the FUNNY cartoon like music at the beginning says it all....

Disclaimer: I am a Stallone fan, so this is not by any means an impartial review. Still, I readily admit that Sylvester Stallone has made both good and bad films. This is definitely one of the former, though not typical of his better work. Stallone will never get any respect for his acting in the mainstream press, which is too bad: if he were an unknown in this role, and had given an identical performance, the press would laud him for his ability to handle subtle bits of comedy interspersed with action and gunplay. But he's Stallone- with all the baggage that carries, both good and bad- so his work is often overlooked. If I were assisting Mr. Stallone's career, I would have suggested putting this out in film, and keeping 'Get Carter' for video. Madeline Stowe has always been vaguely annoying to me, but not in this film. For one thing, one has to give kudos to her for her amazing physical shape: she's beautiful, with a figure that a lot of current 20-year-olds should aspire to! She deftly handles both the comic and the pathos of the script. Rent it with an open mind. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Madeleine Stowe has just discovered she's Anthony Quinn's daughter. Quinn is a mafioso kingpin who gave his daughter up to another family to raise. Seems he was worried that rival families might look to get to him through her. But he and his devoted bodyguard Sylvester Stallone have served as an unseen presence in her life, influencing events with a hidden hand. Now Quinn is dead, Stallone brings her the news and this woman who's a cross between Julia Roberts and Diane Keaton wants a little payback. Believe it or not, it's a comedy and sadly is the last film that Anthony Quinn made. Probably was lucky he died before Avenging Angelo hit the big screen. Quinn should have gone out on something like Mobsters or A Walk in the Clouds. For a man who's career spanned eight decades he deserved a better epitaph. Sly Stallone too. Sly can be a very funny guy in films like Oscar and Tango and Cash, but the jokes in Avenging Angelo just seem to fall like a dropped curve ball. For Stallone fans and Quinn completists only.

In "Avenging Angelo" Stallone plays bodyguard to a wealthy woman (Stowe) who unknowingly becomes a mob target. A clumsy and awkward romantic comedy, this film's conclusion is foregone and the journey toward it hard to get into and hard to swallow. Nonetheless, it's sufficiently busy with simple minded fun to make it an enjoyable no brainer for fans of the players or needy sofa spuds. (C+)

This is a story about a woman who is not who she believes she was. After a family boss, Angelo (Anthony Quinn in his last role before his death), is whacked by a rival family. His former bodyguard, Frankie (Sylvester Stallone), delivers a tape to his daughter, Jennifer (Madeleine Stowe). The tape informs her that he was her father and had to give her to another couple for her own safety, due to the business he was in and the danger she was in. From that point on, Frankie then began looking after Jennifer until he was sure she was safe. It sounds and looks more like an action/crime drama movie at first but once she finds out who she is, that is where it turns into a chick flick. Madeleine Stowe was all right as Jennifer, but they could have made a much better choice. Jennifer Lopez could have played the role which proves it is a chick flick, but I'd still rather have someone different. Need more proof? There is a scene where Frankie tries to teach Jennifer how to walk more like a woman through demonstration. Although it did fall more into the chick flick category more than any other, it did have it's moments to keep the men entertained as well. A few shootings, fight scenes and even a few farts for laughs. If I had to pick a movie that was similar, it would be The Whole Nine Yards with Bruce Willis as the suburbanite hit-man, although Avenging Angelo was not meant to be a comedy. I hate to say this, but Stallone is not aging well at all. He needs to pick better roles altogether. This was one of his better ones, recently, but can do better. Shade comes to mind as one of his better achievements of recent years and should pick more roles like that. He pretty much "jumped the shark" around Copland and he certainly does not look like Rocky or Rambo anymore, which is a shame. I loved those movies and would have liked to see more of that nature from him. Time waits for no man I suppose. Another actor who did a good job here was Billy Gardell, who played Bruno the hit-man. He reminds me a bit of Chris Penn and I liked his character here. 6.5/10

I was pleasantly surprised when I eyed this Sly film! He is so good with comedy! He has a sarcastic wit about him & he can do things with those big brown puppy eyes that just make ya melt!! He's also in GREAT shape but I'm sorry, his hairpiece in this is just too noticeable. (Sorry, Sly! We still love ya tho!) Story Line: Frankie (Sly) is bodyguard for Mr. Alegheri (the late great Anthony Quinn). He gets "hit" in a restaurant when Frankie leaves him unattended for a minute or two. All his life, he's been 'on the job' for Quinn, watching his daughter who doesn't even know she's his daughter (Stowe, with the HUGE brown eyes!!) Anyway, it's time for her to find out & to have Frankie watching her closer than ever now & they soon fall in love. Like he says, "I couldn't keep the distance anymore!") He almost loses her to another handsome Italian (the young guy who played opposite Diane Lane in Under the Tuscan Sun) but that relationship went "dead"! (Pun intended!) I don't know why this film was given an R rating. Granted, there were 2 times the "f" word was used but I've heard that in PG-13's!! Perhaps it would have gotten seen by more people if it were rated PG-13. I know I would have seen it sooner! This is clearly a woman's movie, a love story for Sly FINALLY!! (Unless you count The Specialist?) Too bad he didn't get them when he was younger. Ooooooooh - to heat up the screen!! YO!!

This film is worth watching for the picture-perfect comic timing of the actress Madeleine Stowe. Her foil is the hang-dog, laid-back Sylvester Stallone, and this film includes some of Sly's finest work in years. Stowe's character Jennifer is the spoiled daughter of a mafia don; Sly's character Frankie is the trusted bodyguard. From start to finish, there were hilarious moments of comedy delivered primarily by the gifted Stowe. The script by Will Adis included many inspired bits and take-offs on various mafia films. The funniest sequence is when Jennifer learns the mafia meaning of the word "whack," and she decides to snuff out the aged don who killed her father. A whirlwind romance and wedding follow, and on the fateful wedding night, Jennifer sees to it the old don becomes excited just enough to become a flatliner! Again, the timing, takes, and line deliveries were done to perfection by Stowe. A recent film entitled "Spanglish" received great acclaim as parody of bourgeois culture in L.A. But that film pales alongside the witty and well-crafted "Avenging Angelo." In fact, "Spanglish" could have benefited from all of the strengths of "Avenging Angelo," including the good scripting, comic set-ups, and, above all, the style evoked by an underrated comedienne like Madeleine Stowe.

After watching this film, I didn't know what category this film would fit at. It's a romantic comedy/drama film. It's a shame that this film was shelved for almost 2 years...it features great performances by Sylvester Stallone & Madeleine Stowe. Some of Sly's latest work has been either a hit or miss..."Driven" was more of a miss, & "Get Carter" was great. It's a shame that more people don't give Sly a chance to act; this film hopefully will show this. Very entertaining indeed. Hopefully, this will be released in some way in the USA soon.