REVIEWS
60 | Sight&Sound | November 2019
Reviewed by Henry K. Miller
It is possible that cultural historians of the future,
seeking to understand the 2010s, will find more of
relevance in the Fallen series, of which this is the
third instalment, than in presently better-regarded
films; but that’s up to them. What we have to
contend with is a franchise with no obvious
following making an uncalled-for return, with
most of the same flaws of the preceding entries.
Once again, the US president – now Morgan
Freeman, the former VP – is targeted by bad guys.
The twist? They’re American, though for most of
the film they have the world fooled that the culprit
is POTUS’s bodyguard Mike Banning (Gerard
Butler), under the direction of the Russians. The
main departure from the formula is that Banning
is less of a cheerful torturer than he used to be.
He is also getting on a bit, and taking pills for
various physical ailments, while irresponsibly
refusing to ride the proverbial desk, believing
himself to be the only man capable of doing his
job. As soon as the action begins, however, these
debilitating ailments disappear – but really, who
cares? No one is looking for consistency; there
is no legion of Fallen superfans to service. The
films promise plenty of action and they deliver
it, presumably on time and quite definitely
within a tight budget. There is no danger of
the franchise’s commercial success prompting
financially irresponsible behaviour on the part of
its producers, and no visible sign that anything has
been frittered away on luxuries such as locations,
stunts, convincing CGI or an entertaining script.
The cheapness of the enterprise has not spurred
previous directors of the series to invention,
and Ric Roman Waugh, taking the helm this
time, follows suit. The CGI is omnipresent and
low-grade. The big set-piece ending takes place
in an empty hospital administration building,
rented for an afternoon perhaps, and consists of a
dreary succession of volleys of automatic fire, as
two interchangeable Swat teams go at it among
the potted plants. Nothing truly suspenseful,
exciting or aesthetically interesting occurs, and
the loudness of the gunfire cannot compensate for
the thinness of its onscreen effects. The violence
in the Fallen films is virtually bloodless and
often made essentially invisible by cutting and
arbitrary camera movements, the latter being a
signature of Waugh’s style in scenes of all kinds.
The plot echoes The Fugitive (1993), with Jada
Pinkett Smith as the federal agent on Banning’s
wrongly accused tail, but whereas that film gave
Tommy Lee Jones lines to work with, Pinkett
Smith is left grunting swear words. The only
vague sense that anybody is having fun is when
Nick Nolte appears as Banning’s survivalist father,
but this is to scrape the barrel – and even these
scenes have the series’ usual spurious seriousness,
with Nolte yabbering about illegal wars. Other
aspects of this include the bad guys being private
contractors, paranoia about Russian interference
and the sight of the president attending a G20
conference alongside Donald Tusk and Jean-
Claude Juncker, but not, for good practical
reasons, an identifiable British premier.
Angel Has Fallen
USA 2019
Director: Ric Roman Waugh
Certificate 15 120m 53s
US, present day. Wade Jennings, owner of Salient,
a private military contractor which is suffering
from the pacifist policy of President Allan Trumbull,
lobbies his old friend Mike Banning, the President’s
bodyguard, on the assumption that he is to be
appointed director of the Secret Service. Banning
is unwilling to leave active duty, however, despite
health problems and the concerns of his wife Leah.
On a fishing trip, a mass drone attack leaves the
president in a coma and wipes out every member of
his security detail with the exception of Banning, who
is arrested after incriminating evidence is found tying
him to a Russian conspiracy. Banning is kidnapped
from federal custody by Wade’s contractors, the real
culprits. Determined to clear his name, he escapes.
Pursued by both the FBI and Salient, Banning
finds his estranged father, a Vietnam veteran
turned survivalist, in the woods. Together they
fight off a large detachment of Salient men. Having
surveyed the aftermath, FBI agent Helen Thompson
begins to suspect the true course of events, and
goes to see Jennings at his base in Virginia.
It transpires that Jennings is working for Vice-
President Martin Kirby, who has taken over from
Trumbull while the latter is indisposed, and who is
intent on war with Russia. Jennings kills Thompson
and takes a detachment of men to the hospital to kill
Trumbull, who has regained consciousness. They are
stopped by Banning and other Secret Service men.
Restored to power, Trumbull has Kirby arrested.
Produced by
Gerard Butler
Alan Siegel
Matt O’Toole
John Thompson
Les Weldon
Yariv Lerner
Screenplay
Robert Mark Kamen
Matt Cook
Ric Roman Waugh
Story
Creighton
Rothenberger
Katrin Benedikt
Based on characters
created by Creighton
Rothenberger,
Katrin Benedikt
Director of
Photography
Jules O’Loughlin
Edited by
Gabriel Fleming
Production Designer
Russell De Rozario
Music Score
Composed,
Produced and
Arranged by
David Buckley
Sound Supervisor
Dominic Gibbs
Costume Designer
Stephanie Collie
Stunt Co-ordinator
Greg Powell
©Fallen
Productions, Inc.
Production
Companies
Lionsgate and
Millennium Media
present a film by
Ric Roman Waugh
A Millennium Films/
G-Base production
Executive Producers
Andrey Georgiev
Christa Campbell
Lati Grobman
Mark Gill
Avi Lerner
Trevor Short
Heidi Jo Markel
David Bernardi
Jeffrey Greenstein
Jonathan Yunger
Cast
Gerard Butler
Mike Banning
Morgan Freeman
President Allan
Trumbull
Jada Pinkett Smith
Agent Helen
Thompson
Lance Reddick
David Gentry
Tim Blake Nelson
Vice-President
Martin Kirby
Piper Perabo
Leah Banning
Nick Nolte
Clay Banning
Danny Huston
Wade Jennings
Frederick Schmidt
Travis Cole
Michael Landes
Sam Wilcox
Joseph Millson
Ahent Ramirez
Ori Pfeffer
Agent Murphy
Dolby Digital
In Colour
[2.35:1]
Distributor
Lionsgate UK
Bodyguard language: Gerard Butler
Credits and Synopsis
has married the gentle and sympathetic
Chris (Aaron Paul), a further five-year leap
brings us to the final plot resolves – of Debra’s
marriage and of Bridget’s disappearance.
Often Scott’s film verges into unexpected
territory. Our first view of Jesse’s father Tyler
(Alex Neustaedter) is of an obnoxious stoner teen,
crassly indifferent to his ex-girlfriend’s fate. Five
years later he shows up again, older and more
thoughtful, and in a quietly affecting scene he
and Debra acknowledge the damage they did to
each other at the time of the crisis. We get a vivid
sense of how both of them have moved on.
American Woman doesn’t tie everything up
neatly, but that’s one of its strengths. And in its
empathy and patience, it offers Miller the part
this too often sidelined actor has long deserved;
she seizes it superbly. As a portrait of a tragically
bereaved mother, her Debra stands beside Frances
McDormand’s tour de force performance in
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) –
less showy, perhaps, but no less deeply felt.
Pennsylvania, the recent past. Debra Callahan, a
single mother in her early thirties, lives with her
teenage daughter Bridget and Bridget’s infant son
Jesse. Her sister Kath lives across the road with
husband Terry, two kids and mother Peggy. Debra
is having an affair with a married man, Brett. One
night, Bridget goes to see Tyler, Jesse’s father, and
doesn’t come home. Debra contacts the police;
Detective Morris organises a search, but Bridget
isn’t found. Brett promises to come over; when
he fails to show up, Debra goes to his house and
causes a scene. On her way home she intentionally
crashes her car, but walks away unhurt.
Seven years later, the abusively controlling
Ray has moved in with Debra, though Kath
urges her to get rid of him. When Ray brutalises
her and also Jesse, Debra follows her sister’s
advice. Kath and Terry introduce Debra to Chris;
Debra falls for him, and they soon marry.
A further five years later, Jesse has started high
school. Debra discovers that Chris is cheating
on her; he moves out. Detective Morris contacts
Debra at work: Bridget’s body has been found.
Her killer, Frank Derrick, is convicted of two
other murders. Debra confronts him in jail.
She and Jesse move to another town.
Produced by
Ridley Scott
Kevin J. Walsh
Michael Pruss
Brad Feinstein
Written by
Brad Ingelsby
Cinematographer
John Mathieson
Editor
Joi McMillon
Production
Designer
Happy Massee
Music
Adam Wiltzie
Sound Mixer
Tom Williams
Costume Designer
Alex Bovaird
©American Woman
Productions LLC
Production
Companies
Endeavor Content
presents a Scott
Free production
A Romulus
Entertainment
production
In association
with Black Bicycle
Entertainment
and Mill House
Motion Pictures
Executive
Producers
Erika Olde
Shea Kammer
Joseph F. Ingrassia
Ryan Stowell
Brad Ingelsby
Jonathan Rosenthal
Jordan Foley
Cast
Sienna Miller
Debra Callahan, ‘Deb’
Christina Hendricks
Kath
Aaron Paul
Chris
Will Sasso
Terry
Sky Ferreira
Bridget Callahan
Pat Healy
Ray
Alex Neustaedter
Tyler Hanrick
E. Roger Mitchell
Detective
Sergeant Morris
Kentucker Audley
Brett Tobeck
Aidan McGraw
Jesse (age 7)
Aidan Fiske
Jesse (age 13)
Amy Madigan
Peggy
In Colour
[2.35:1]
Distributor
Signature
Entertainment
Credits and Synopsis
A RT
PRODUCTION
CLIENT
SUBS
REPRO OP
VERSION
Reviews, 3
