Angel-A

Angel-A (2005)
Directed by Luc Besson
Written by Luc Besson
Starring Jamel Debbouze, Rie Rasmussen

Synopsis
shady guy who owes a ton of money all over paris and perhaps new york, half heartedly tries to kill himself by jumping off one of paris' numerous bridges. a woman appears on the same bridge also apparently ready to commit suicide. they form a partnership. she guides him. she turns out to be an angel. this is not a spoiler, it's made fairly obvious to the viewer almost from her appearance.
MOster
This was pretty cool.  The story was a mix of old and new.  I kind of wish they had pushed the reveal until later in the film.  The two leads each do a fine job, with Rasmussen really pulling off her deal as the angel.  The supporting cast all overacted or mugged appropriately.

This is Besson, so direction was there, including a couple of REALLY nice shots.  Everything else was just fine.  Except for the costumes.  The costumes, especially her one outfit, were awesome.  I cant find who designed that dress or bra; but it's probably someone fairly famous.

This is a decent use of an hour and a half.  Not mindblowing, but not typical.

The Woman
i can dig. this was between ok, and really good. black and white. directed really well (of course, it's luc besson). i liked how she wasn't perfectly perfect and good. she did some shady dealing as well. good commentary on religion. i did feel like something was missing from the plot. the guy, andre, falls in love with angela, at some point, and this was not made very clear. of course he falls in love with her, she's an angel. isn't that her angelly charm? they were only together for two days...maybe at the most. it could have only been one. it was also as if perhaps he owed her something for getting him out of trouble. i guess there is always that sort of underlying questions in luc besson movies. he doesn't like to spell everything out. you, as the viewer, can come up with your own mythology, as it were, to explain the unanswered questions. he is a big fan of symbols though. the whole baptism/water/rebirth thing seems to me, to come up frequently in his movies. this was no exception. i guess it shouldn't be that big of a surprise since most of his movies have religion as a major player.