Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
Two escaped cons' only prayer to escape is to pass themselves off as priests and pass by the police blockade at the border into the safety of Canada.
We're No Angels (1989), directed by Neil Jordan and written by David Mamet, features Sean Penn and Robert De Niro as bumbling escaped convicts who masquerade as priests. Mamet's dialogue gives the film a quirky, deadpan rhythm, and the two leads deliver committed performances, though the material never quite gels into a fully satisfying whole. The plot, drawing on the 1955 original and stage roots, feels stagey and meandering, losing momentum in its middle stretch. Cinematography by Philippe Rousselot is competent but unremarkable given the limited Canadian winter settings. The film's tone — somewhere between farce, deadpan comedy, and religious satire — is distinctive thanks to Mamet's voice, but it remains a remake built on familiar mistaken-identity scaffolding, limiting its novelty. The ending feels somewhat anticlimactic and unresolved, consistent with the film's overall lack of dramatic payoff.