Offending Angels

Though one is loath to run down the perpetually struggling British film industry, it must be said that it's currently turning out more dogs than could be housed in Battersea. And here's another one. Conceived by writer/director Andrew Rajan as a vehicle for actors of ethnic origin (playing roles in which their ethnicity is irrelevant), the film at least has its heart in the right place, but has failed to locate any wit, style or invention. This tale of two greenhorn guardian angels (Susannah Harker and Shaun Parkes), who get a little too involved in the affairs of man, is dull, dreary and - even at a brief 89 minutes - drawn out. The film also has a stilted staginess to it, as if it was conceived as a stage play rather than an original work for the cinema. Angels have been used as a source for some of cinema's most successful fantasies (It's a Wonderful Life, Wings of Desire), but in this case, the concept just doesn't fly.