We're No Angels

1990
US
15

Directed by: Neil Jordan
Written by: David Mamet
Cast: Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, Demi Moore

Peripatetic Irishman Jordan's first Hollywood feature is this David Mamet-scripted comedy with De Niro and Penn as convicts on the run, who seek sanctuary in a border town seminary. Although the frantic comic mugging from the two stars becomes a little wearing, the core of the film, which shows how these apparently bad men are, despite themselves, drawn towards good, retains a healthily mocking sense of cynicism towards the priesthood and a focus on matters of faith and religion that mark it out as a much more rewarding project than many commentators have given it credit for.