Angels in America
DVD released in 2004
Running time: 2 disks total of 5 hours and 52 minutes
7 out of 15 stars

This HBO drama has a wonderful cast. Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Mary-Louise Parker, and Emma Thompson create a diverse, talented ensemble. All of the stars played more than one role in the movie, displaying true depths in their talents. I am beginning to think Meryl Streep is the greatest living actress. She seems to be middle-ageless. Sexy and mature. She really stretches in her roles here.

AiA tries hard to be campy avant-garde. It creates fantastic quirky characters to evoke prejudice and tolerance. Dreams and imaginations pull us into amazing worlds. Plot twists bring these disparate characters together in a tragic dance. It nearly hits the mark as a really good production.

OK, enough gushing. This mini-series had great intentions with mediocre execution. It seems the playright, Tony Kushner, presumed we all wanted to hear his preachy opinions at the end of the piece. Please, Mr. Kushner, create some entertaining or disturbing stories, and allow us to react in our own ways. I would have been annoyed at your soliloquies at a stage play, let alone in a television production. The last episode totally ruined what was otherwise an A- story.

Watch this, but don't expect too much.