Fallen

I have started to write this review three times and just don’t know where to begin. This movie is strange, but I like strange so that isn’t the problem. The problem is that it’s almost impossible to explain Fallen in a brief and coherent manner; I’ll try.

Fallen is full of top tier actors, Denzel Washington, Donald Sutherland, John Goodman, Aida Turturro, Elias Koteas and James Gandofini to name a few. The story begins simply enough with a death row inmate (Koteas) asking to see a cop, Hobbes (Washington), before his execution. The inmate clasps Hobbes’ hand and begins speaking in an unknown language. While this scene is unsettling, it has yet to become complicated.

Koteas oozes creepiness as he sings and dances his way to the execution chamber. You wonder if something may save his life, but the execution goes off without a hitch. Soon after the execution strange things begin to happen to Hobbes. He starts getting strange phone calls leading him to murder victims. Oddly, the murder victims seem to be linked to the executed prisoner. Of course he couldn’t have killed them, so the cops assume there must be a copycat. However, the pieces of that theory never quite fall together.

Hobbes begins looking at alternate explanations and finds information about a dead cop who seemed to have been framed for murder. This revelation brings Hobbes to the idea that a supernatural element may be involved. He learns that fallen angels can inhabit the bodies of humans and discovers a demon named Azazel has been stalking him. He sets out to eliminate the demon.

I won’t give you the ending, it would definitely spoil the experience for you, but realize that nothing in this movie is as simple as it seems. The movie makes you think about religion and what you believe. If you believe in the goodness of a loving God, you must also accept the evils illustrated in the Bible.

Fallen gets three and a half stars (it lost a half star because of meanness to cats). The acting is certainly solid and the twists and turns are exhilarating. I also really enjoyed the use of music throughout the movie. However, I would like to have seen a faster pace, and certainly felt certain scenes could have been eliminated entirely. If you are easily creeped -out, I would pass on Fallen, but if you are an adventurous soul, this movie is quite entertaining.

Michelle D. Kieffaber