Bay Windows - December 4, 2003
Robert Nesti

"Very Steven Spielberg," says Prior Walter as the heavens crash down around him at the end of first half of the stage version of "Angels in America." Oddly enough, that line is missing from the film version, which premieres this weekend on HBO. But the moment in all its cosmic glory is there, climaxing the first half of Tony Kushner's mix of politics, theology, and struggling humanity with a spectacular epiphany.

And even after three hours, the beauty of Mike Nichols' absorbing adaptation is how the moment leaves you wanting more-a gloriously kitschy angel in the person of Emma Thompson announces that the Messenger has arrived, and you're left, like Prior, shaking in your boots in anticipation of what might come next.

That is "Perestroika," the second half of Kushner's sprawling concept that airs next weekend; this weekend marks the debut of "Millennium Approaches," the first half that put the theatrical world on its ear a decade ago with its cogent commentary and hugely imaginative treatment of living with AIDS in the age of Reagan. After the play opened to huge acclaim, it was immediately thought of as a film; but how could a nearly eight-hour play with searing political comment, gay sexuality, and a number of lead characters on the brink of madness finds its way to a nearby multiplex?

In the end, it didn't; not that Kushner didn't try with such directors as Robert Altman and Neil LaBute, who were both involved in early drafts of the film. In the end, Home Box Office, with its deep pockets, supplied the $60 million needed to film this epic. While many have pondered what Altman's version might have been like, or LaBute's (whose Mormonism reflects that of some of the troubled characters), it is the reliable hands of Nichols that shapes this memorable telefilm.

Over his long career Nichols' strong suit has been adapting novels and plays, from "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" to the much-underrated "Primary Colors." His rapport with actors, his smoothly cinematic style, and his emphasis on character make him ideal for Kushner's script. But what is most surprising about "Millennium Approaches" is how easily the seemingly theatrical dialogue adapts to the screen. The dialogue bristles with a realistic bite, and even the longer speeches, such as one by the Rabbi that opens the film and the tirade that the tortured Louis makes at a restaurant, never feel too stage-bound.

Nor has his central point - that there's a spiritual crisis at the heart of a government that abandons its citizens in a time of an emergency - been lost in the melodramatic twists and turns of plot. Though he's seen only briefly on a television screen, the true villain of "Angels" is Ronald Reagan, whose indifference to the health crisis that was facing millions of his citizens led Kushner to conceive of his play in the first place. What he created, though, isn't so much a polemic against Reagan as a stinging indictment of the kind of power-mad Republicanism that so defines our current administration. What was true 20 years ago is, sadly, true today.

His narrative follows the lives of a pair of HIV-infected men and their companions, and how they interconnect. One is Prior Walter, a sardonic, 30-ish gay man coping with Kaposi's sarcoma lesions and what he perceives as some AIDS-related madness with the increasingly cosmic visions he's seeing. Louis Ironson, his lover, cannot cope with illness and abandons Prior, finding solace in self-pity.

The other is Roy Cohn, the celebrity lawyer whose unethical tactics are about to lead to his disbarment. Diagnosed with AIDS early on, his elaborate denial of it makes for one of the film's most chilling scenes, one that exposes his ruthlessness and desperation with amazing clarity. Played with surprising restraint by Al Pacino, it is as if he's climbed under the skin of this repellant character and given him a human dimension. Believe it or not, he's more pitiable than loathsome.

Cohn's influence puts him on the top of the list to get the experimental AIDS drug AZT, but it can't help with his disbarment. To that end he hopes to use a young Mormon lawyer, Joseph Porter Pitt, to infiltrate the Justice Department and influence his case. Joe, though, has problems of his own, specifically his emotionally-challenged wife Harper whose Valium addiction is causing hallucinations of the most Hollywood kind; and his own homosexuality, which is prohibited by his religion.

Under Nichols' sure hand, the starry cast gives first rate performances. Meryl Streep shows her amazing range, from an ancient rabbi to a starchy Mormon mom, Hannah Pitt, who comes to New York to rescue her son. Emma Thompson is equally strong as a no-nonsense but humane nurse, a bag lady and, lastly, the spectacular angel. But the acting honors here must go to the young actors who play the narrative's struggling 30-somethings. Justin Kirk is deeply touching as Prior, fighting off his illness with his ironic wit; Ben Shenkman brings a fullness to the tortured Louis; Jeffrey Wright (the only actor from the stage production) captures the compassionate hard-edge of Belize, Prior's best friend, perfectly; and Patrick Wilson embodies Joe's spiritual crisis with a childlike innocence. It is Mary-Louise Parker, though, who is the revelation here, bringing a human (and dare I say comic) dimension to the drug-addicted Harper. Like "Angels" itself, her performance defies description, which may be why this film version will stay with you for days after seeing it.

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