By Michael Buckley
26 Nov 2003

Ben Shenkman in a scene from HBO's Angels in America
photo by Stephen Goldblatt/HBO

This month we check out HBO's "Angels in America," which Tony Kushner has adapted from his 1993 and '94 Tony-winning Best Plays: Millennium Approaches (which also received the Pulitzer Prize) and Perestroika.

Part 1, "Millennium..." debuts Sunday, December 7, 8-11 PM ET, and consists of Chapters 1-3: "Bad News," "In Vitro" and "The Messenger." Part 2, "Perestroika," follows on Sunday, December 14, 8-11:05 PM ET; it's comprised of Chapters 4-6: "Stop Moving!" "Beyond Nelly," and "Heaven, I'm in Heaven." (A schedule of showings follows the column.) We also chat with Ben Shenkman about the cable presentation.

Part 1 stars Al Pacino (as Roy Cohn), Meryl Streep (the Rabbi, Hannah Pitt, Ethel Rosenberg), Emma Thompson (Nurse Emily, Homeless Woman, the Angel), Mary-Louise Parker (Harper Pitt), Jeffrey Wright (reprising his 1994 Tony-winning roles of Mr. Lies and Belize), Justin Kirk (Prior Walter, Leatherman in Park), Ben Shenkman (Louis Ironson), Patrick Wilson (Joe Pitt), Brian Markinson (Martin Heller), and James Cromwell (Roy's Doctor). Part 2 begins with the same credits, except that Robin Weigert (Mormon Mother) is billed instead of Brian Markinson. Featured (unbilled) performances are given by Michael Gambon (Prior 1) and Simon Callow (Prior 2).

***

They might as well start polishing the Emmys now, and, to save time, begin engraving them with "Angels in America." A strong, solid, splendid achievement, it's spectacularly acted, and superbly directed by Mike Nichols.

Fade in: The funeral service of the grandmother of Louis Ironson (Ben Shenkman), who attends with his lover, Prior Walter (Justin Kirk). It surprised me that the officiating Rabbi is played by a bearded Meryl Streep. However, when I played the tape for my wife and asked her to guess who plays the Rabbi, a character who's heard before (s)he's seen, my wife immediately said, "That's Meryl Streep's voice." We next meet the bombastic Roy Cohn (a silver-haired Al Pacino), who plays telephone roulette while chatting with idealistic Joe Pitt (a dark-haired Patrick Wilson). "I wish I was an octopus, a fucking octopus...," says Cohn, so that he could push even more buttons on his console telephone.

As extremely good as everyone is, it's Pacino that I couldn't wait to see again between scenes. Spewing vitriol and wearing evil like a badge of honor, he's simply fascinating. A marvelous Streep especially shines in Part 2. Emma Thompson and Mary-Louise Parker are both fine, and four young actors give performances that you're not likely to see soon again in one feature: Jeffrey Wright (the only Broadway cast member, proving why he won his Tony), Justin Kirk, Ben Shenkman, and Patrick Wilson.

Frank Rich, in the "Times," as well as others I know who have seen the movie, have referred to Wilson as giving "a career-making performance"; while I agree, I believe the same could/should be said of Wright, Kirk and Shenkman.

In his November 16 Arts & Leisure piece, Rich writes: "'Angels' is the most powerful screen adaptation of a major American play since Elia Kazan's 'Streetcar Named Desire' more than a half-century ago." He adds, "Mr. Kushner's writing has gained in pathos with age. What he has to say about coping with unfathomable loss and the terror inflicted by covert, death-dealing cells at the end of the last millennium speaks to us more urgently than ever in the new one ushered in by 9/11."

Part 1 continues with Prior telling Louis about his first lesion, the start of his harrowing experiences battling AIDS. We see Joe Pitt arriving home to tell his emotionally disturbed wife, Harper (Mary-Louise Parker), of Cohn's offer for him to work in Washington, D.C. She thinks that their Brooklyn apartment is similar to the one in "Rosemary's Baby," but doesn't want to move to the capital, since Georgetown was the scene of "The Exorcist." Chapter 1 ends with Cohn's doctor (James Cromwell) giving his patient some "very bad news."

The second chapter begins with Louis trying to assist a very ill Prior. There are two beautifully played scenes involving Pacino and Wilson, who have in common that they're Republicans, lawyers, and gay, but—for different reasons—hide the last fact. One scene occurs in a posh bar with Cohn and Joe having a drink, while Cohn pats and caresses Joe's shoulders and arms, as if he were a masseur applying body oil; the other takes place in a four-star restaurant (with Brian Markinson), as Cohn explains some facts of political life to a stunned Joe. Two other brilliantly intercut sequences show Louis in Prior's hospital room, informing his partner that he's leaving, and Joe admitting the truth to Harper.

Chapter 3 begins with Louis delivering a virtual monologue in a diner. Cohn tells Joe how he was responsible for having the Rosenbergs executed, right before Ethel Rosenberg (Streep) appears to Cohn to observe the bastard's misery. Joe approaches Louis in Central Park at night, and touches his face. "I'm going to hell for doing this," says Joe, to which Louis replies, "Big deal! You think it'd be any worse than New York City?" Emma Thompson has quite an entrance as the Angel: "The messenger has arrived!"

Naturally, the special effects in the movie outweigh what's possible on the stage; and fantasy scenes—such as Harper following Mr. Lies into her refrigerator and ending up in Antarctica—are more easily achieved on the screen. The fantasy sequences mix nicely with the themes of religion, politics, and sex that comprise "Angels in America."

Louis returns to his apartment with Joe as Chapter 4 begins Part 2. Cohn's doctor admits him to the hospital, where Belize is a nurse. Although Belize despises Cohn, he educates the lion about life in his latest lair. Cohn's not despondent because of pain; he's upset that his hospital room telephone doesn't have a "hold" button. On the phone, demanding that he have his own supply of AZT (a drug unavailable to most), Cohn dismisses the listener's mention of the late hour. "I couldn't sleep," he barks. "I'm too busy dying!"

A scene at the Mormon Visitors' Center in Manhattan, with Streep as Hannah Pitt and Parker as her daughter-in-law, begins Chapter 5. We next see Lou and Joe walking on a beach; and later, Lou meeting Prior at Washington Square Park. There's a good scene in the hospital between Pacino, whose Cohn is high on morphine, and Jeffrey Wright as the savvy Belize.

Prior, accompanied by Streep, is in the hospital as Chapter 6 begins. "This is my ex-lover's lover's Mormon mother," Prior tells the nurse (Thompson). "Even in New York, in the Eighties, that is strange," declares Thompson. As Joe's mother, Streep is tremendously compassionate, and is quick with a response. As she leaves Prior's hospital room, he says, "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Observes Streep, "Well, that's a stupid thing to do." Parker perfectly delivers her final monologue, spoken aboard an airplane. The final scene occurs at Central Park's Bethesda Fountain, as four friends gather in January 1990. No doubt, "Angels in America" will have a wide appeal.

*** Continued...

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