Angel Heart

A really swift director, Alan Parker, falls flat on his face here, with a neo-noir-occult-horror-thriller-detective-whodunit which never manages to crawl out from under the untidy mess of its own overwrought plot. What the hell is going on, anyway? Some gore, some sex, but not enough of either to make up for the myriad shortcomings. Certainly there are some atmospheric moments, but all the symbolism is worthless because it is not explained. As Robbie Robertson put it, "that voodoo stuff don't do nothin’ for me,” at least not here. Mickey Rourke aims a lot of intensity at the camera, but he can't carry the picture; it is just too awkward. Don't misunderstand; I really did not like this picture at all. I felt bulldozed by it, bullied, and rather than keeping me in suspense, more often than not the picture left me feeling enervated. Forget it.