Delivering Milo (2001)

Director:

Nick Castle

Writers:

David Hubbard (screenplay)
Heidi Levitt (story)

Release Date:

4 January 2001 (Singapore)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

A guardian angel has 24 hours to convince a soul that life on Earth is worth the effort. |

Plot Keywords:

Limbo | Tour Guide | Life Lesson | Embryo | Angel

Awards:

4 wins

Cast

Anton Yelchin	...	Milo
Albert Finney	...	Elmore Dahl
Bridget Fonda	...	Elizabeth
Campbell Scott	...	Kevin
Hank Harris	...	Mr. Percival
Kenny Blank	...	Mr. Ralph
Douglas Spain	...	Mr. Gordon
Alison Lohman	...	Ms. Madeline
Lesley Ann Warren	...	Anna
Gary Farmer	...	Max
Quincy Le Near	...	Mr. Lou
Michael Welch	...	Mr. Owen
John Cho	...	Mr. Hugo
Keith Gordon	...	Dr. Baumgartner
Janis Corsair	...	Dara

MPAA:

Rated PG for language and sensuality.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:LH | Finland:K-7 | Germany:6 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Company:

IMMI Pictures

unusual plot foregoes creative possibilities in favor of 'ghost'-like sentimentality

I went to see this on the strength of Albert Finney alone. He's one of my favorite actors and he rarely fails to deliver. I'm not sure if the plot is interesting or just silly: it's about a little boy who is about to be born, but as his mother goes into labor, he refuses to come out! This sends God and the whole human being factory into a crisis and Albert Finney is called out of purgatory to try and convince the boy to change his mind and decide to want to be born. So Finney takes the unborn boy for an adventure in the Big Apple in hopes of showing him all the reasons he should want to live.

Despite the ridiculousness of the plot, I could have accepted it if the director had not tried to turn this into your typical Hollywood sentimental moralistic message film. Directorially, the film was rendered unbearable by a horrible soundtrack of the stock sentimental music that Hollywood directors seem incapable of resisting.

He further butchered the somewhat unconventional story by giving away its hand at every moment. Whatever twists and turns were in store in the plot were completely given away by the way the story unraveled. It was as if the director assumed the audience is just a bunch of idiots who cannot see the obvious hints coming from a mile away.

Even Finney in his performance, though satisfactory, seemed a bit awkward and out of place; and the little boy with curly locks, though he was supposed to be cute, was in fact rather dull. Bridget Fonda seemed intent on trying to duplicate Demi Moore's performance in 'Ghost', shedding tears at a moment's notice.

I understand that the film has been unsuccessful thus far at getting distribution in the U.S., which surprises me as I think it has the box office potential to be a modest hit, appealing to both kids and sentimental adults. As far as the quality goes, it's not an awful film, it's just not very good. (4 out of 10)