ANGEL-A (yes it's supposed to read 'Angela', while also meaning something else) is the tenth movie that Frenchman Luc Besson has directed. Following such classics as LEON, NIKITA, THE FIFTH ELEMENT and THE BIG BLUE, and such stinkers as JOAN OF ARC and KISS OF THE DRAGON (okay, so he only wrote that one), Besson returns with ANGEL-A, which is a sort of a cross between Wim Wenders' WINGS OF DESIRE, Richard Linklater's BEFORE SUNRISE/SUNSET etc. IT'S A WONDEFUL LIFE, and that other French film AMELIE.

The story goes as follows 'Businessman' Andre (Jamel Debbouze) has got himself into a spot of bother with a whole load of naughty people over in Paris. In fact, he owes thousands of Euros to some of the cities baddest lenders, all of whom are calling in said debts, and if he can't pay within just a few hours - then it's game over, and Andre will be waking up in the next life. When all else fails, Andre decides to end it all himself, and takes to the side of a bridge overlooking the river Seine. When he comes to end it all he turns to see Angela, also in a similar predicament - only she does jump and it's up to Andre to save her. What follows is a friendship between those aforementioned characters and the bond they form after realizing what they both have in common with one another.

Only, it's not that simple.

This is one of those reviews where it's impossible to review it without lending a few spoilers, which I'm going to do, so if you want to enjoy ANGELA without knowing the big reveal, look away now.

Okay? Well, basically, Angela is an angel. Most of you may have worked that out via the title or the comparison with Wenders' WINGS OF DESIRE. So, she has been put on the earth to carry out a 'job', and help Andre out of his little predicament. The way in which I am writing this review is that I'm not doing the movie justice. It's sounding like this is another one of those high octane, almost cartoonish Luc Besson scripted flicks ala THE TRANSPORTER or TAXI. If you're making this assumption, then you couldn't be anywhere further from what this movie actually is. It's simply Besson back to the LEON days - without the action - and genius of that movie. However, that's not to say that this is a bad flick. Far from it. It's just very, very different. It's a very character driven, dialogue heavy, relationship based drama set within the world's most romantic city - which is where the BEFORE SUNRISE comparison comes in. Sure, there are some truly great comedic parts to Besson's script, and a little cartoonish play is present in places, but throughout there is this underlying romanticism that we haven't seen in a Besson related movie in yonks. It's very touching at certain points, and indeed very deep.

Debbouze and Rie Rasmussen's chemistry is the thing that ties the film together, and both are believable in their respected roles (Rasmussen even as an angel), but the best thing about the movie is Thierry Arbogast's stunning black-and-white cinematography. The film looks beautiful, and is perhaps the best work that I have seen of his (Arbogast was also DOP on LEON, THE FIFTH ELEMENT and most of Besson's other directorial outings).

For me the only real weakness of ANGEL-A is the ending, which, and while I won't go into too much detail here, came across a little predictable and gushy. There were other ways to end the flick that would have been much more fitting. There are also various parts of the story that were left unanswered, and there were plotholes aplenty. How did they pay for that wine? Or that expensive meal? Or that plush hotel room? You'll see what I mean.

But in all this is a worthy addition to Besson's glowing CV. A flawed film from an already proven genius, but still an entertaining night at the movies. Let's just hope this isn't the last movie he'll direct, which according to his own publicity it is (Besson only ever wanted to direct ten movies in his life, and he's reached his quota with this - let's hope that the man is messing with us).