A Rumor of Angels

2000 Drama

Twelve-year-old James (Trevor Morgan) is haunted by the car crash that claimed his mother's life two years earlier. Estranged from his father (Ray Liotta) and nurturing a deep hatred of his stepmother (Catherine McCormack), James is none too pleased about the prospect of spending his summer vacation at their Maine beach house. With no one his own age for company, he spends his time exploring the surrounding beaches. One day, while playing in the dunes, James accidentally breaks a fence belonging to Maddy Bennett (Vanessa Redgrave), a cranky old woman with a reputation for loony behavior. James embarks on a mission to fix the fence, and as he works, he and Maddy form a deep friendship. But when the boy's family learns of the friendship, they wrongfully blame Maddy for their own problems, prompting Maddy to react in a manner that profoundly affects the entire family. more..

Director: Peter O'Fallon

Starring: Vanessa Redgrave, Ray Liotta, Catherine McCormack, Trevor Morgan, Ron Livingston

Reviews

  • An uplifting but occasionally treacly tale of transcendent grief, opted to venture where angels go fearlessly.

    Claudia Puig - USA Today

    29 November 2012

  • A predictable tearjerker whose main redeeming feature is that you don't actually see any of the angels in the title.

    Jonathan Foreman - New York Post

    29 November 2012

  • As A Rumor of Angels reveals itself to be a sudsy tub of supernatural hokum, not even Ms. Redgrave's noblest efforts can redeem it from hopeless sentimentality.

    Stephen Holden - The New York Times

    29 November 2012

  • The emotional aspects of the story are treated with such a heavy hand, the supernatural aspects are so vague and uninvolving, and the group dynamic is so unconvincing that one can't quite imagine why anybody bothered.

    John Anderson - Los Angeles Times

    29 November 2012

  • I've been a Vanessa Redgrave fan for such a long time that I would have been happy to watch her beautifully weathered face without much happening around her.

    Joe Morgenstern - The Wall Street Journal

    29 November 2012

Awards

No awards