Is there a better dramatic actor out there than Denzel Washington? I doubt it. Tom Hanks is good, but he also does well with comedy, which is not Denzel’s forte. Where am I going with this? Nowhere. Just thought I’d start a little debate.

This week’s movie, Fallen, stars Washington (last in The Preacher's Wife) as Philadelphia homicide detective John Hobbes. At the beginning of the film we hear that we are going to be told a story about a time when “I almost died.” You don’t know for sure what this means till the end though. Next scene is Hobbes visiting death row inmate Edgar Reese (Elias Koteas, Gattaca) whom Hobbes helped to put there. Before he dies though, Reese exhibits some freaky behavior that later starts to be explained. Soon Hobbes and his partner Jonesy (John Goodman, The Borrowers) start investigating some really bizarre murders, while trying to uncover what Reese had tried to do. This detective work leads Hobbes to the beautiful Gretta Milano (Embeth Davidtz, Matilda), the daughter of a dead police officer that committed suicide after some strange happenings some 30 years before. At this point we begin to discover that a fallen angel named Azazel is on the warpath and is out to make Hobbes life a living hell. At the same time, Hobbes boss Lieutenant Stanton (Donald Sutherland, Shadow Conspiracy) makes Hobbes take some time off, as Hobbes has become a suspect in the bizarre murders. Meanwhile at home, Hobbes must watch out for the safety of his brother Art (Gabriel Casseus) and nephew Sam (Michael J. Pagan). We soon realize that this Azazel is one tough SOB to beat, and even Hobbes might not live to enjoy a victory.

Some others in the film are James Gandolfini, Tony Michael Donnelly, Robert Joy, Frank Medrano, Reno Wilson, Jill Holden, Christian Aubert, Aida Turturro, and Wendy Cutler. Nicholas Kazan wrote the screenplay and Gregory Hoblit (Primal Fear) directed the film.

Fallen is a very interesting and suspenseful film. Denzel is good as the tragic hero. My only beef with the film would concern belief in the supernatural elements of the movie, but if you grant the suspension of believability as I did, then the film plays out like a finely tuned piano. All in all I give Fallen nine couches out of ten, with no nudity whatsoever.

Last updated: Thursday, March 20, 2008 02:45:25 AM

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