“The Fourth Angel” (UK/Canada 2001) **
Directed by John Irvin
Jeremy Irons plays Jack Elgin, the editor for The Economist who witnesses the terrifying slaughter of his wife and two daughters when their jetliner is overcome by terrorists. Ridden by guilt, as he had planned this family vacation to coincide with his work, he takes justice into his own hands. His investigation leads him to undercover political injustice, post cold-war mercenaries and some shady characters. But not without the help of some allies, former Secret Service Agent, Kate (Charlotte Rampling) and Interpol agent Bernard (Forest Whitaker).
“The Fourth Angel” arrives close on the heels of “In the Bedroom” a film dealing with parents coping with their son’s needless murder. While the latter dealt with character study, emotions and reactions, “The Fourth Angel” plays as an action thriller with some emoting and investigating thrown in for good measure. The title, “The Fourth Angel” comes from the book of Revelations in the Bible, the angel being an instrument of God pouring his vial onto the sun and the sun given the power to scorch the people. That would be the probable reason why single handed Jeremy Irons is able to demolish all the bad seeds of the terrorist underground.
But “The Fourth Angel” leads nowhere. The action sequences, with the aircraft evacuation, massive shootings and gas spillage, though satisfactorily staged, fail to surprise or impress. Director Irvin (“The Dogs of War”, “Widows Peak” and the recent to be released “Shiner”) and writer Allan Scott (his most impressive credit being co-writer of “Don’t Look Now”) appear to be going through a weary hack job of making a mindless action flick. Even the music by Paul Zaza saunters between tension and calm closely following the mood of each scene. Terrorists are stereotyped, beer drinking bearded louts watching porn leaving their weapons around for Elgin to pick up. And we are led to believe that a Pulitzer Prize winning editor can effectively gun down a dozen such experts without much difficulty.
Though filmed in London, the filmmakers muff most locations and sights. Elgin attends a performance at a theatre called “The Russell” at Charring Cross. The airline is Am Air. The only realistic prop would be the Silk Cuts Irons smokes incessantly.
There is nothing the usually excellent Jeremy Irons can do with the limited material. Charlotte Rampling (taking over Elizabeth McGovern) has a token role as Jack’s friend and Lois Maxwell (“Moneypenny”) is wasted as the granny. Surprisingly, Forest Whitaker injects some genuine feeling into the role of agent Bernard, who has to work against all odds. Whether he is hiding under a conference table trying to calm his children over his mobile or reasoning with Irons, he brings the only sparkle into the lackluster affair.
There is one scene which bears close resemblance to “In the Bedroom”. Jack Elgin spares the terrorist leader only because he sees him with his daughter just as Tom Wilkinson feels remorse after going through the same. Unfortunately, the point is never developed except to indicate Elgin’s mistake.
Irvin’s overuse of flashbacks of the family slaughter whenever Jack does away with a terrorist and dialogue like “Self defense is not murder” overstate the point of the moral justification of the killings. “The Fourth Angel” goes straight to video in the U.S. but is given a theatrical run in Canada (and perhaps the U.K.), probably because it is a U.K./Canadian co-production.
