Jennifer Lopez, Jim Caviezel
Lopez should keep it legal, and I'm not talking about her getting cozy again with ex-beau, bad-boy rapper Sean "Puffy" Combs. In playing hard-edged officers of the law, here and in the far superior Out of Sight (1998), Lopez has found an onscreen occupation that provides an effective showcase for her tough-girl urban persona.
She and costar Caviezel, who has an appealing way of sneaking up on a line, are the main reasons to see Angel Eyes, a dopey romantic thriller that starts off promising more than it eventually delivers. Lopez is felicitously cast as Sharon Pogue, a dedicated Chicago cop struggling with anger-management issues. ("Go ahead, put it in your report," she challenges a partner after she knees an abusive suspect.) Caviezel plays Catch, a mystery man who saves Sharon from a pistol-waving punk. Soon the two have fallen in love, even though Catch tells her nada about who he is, where he comes from or how he pays the rent on his spartan apartment. "You know scratch, as in starting from scratch?" he says. "Well, this is it."
Both Sharon and Catch have a big secret they must share before Eyes is finished. Neither secret is much of a surprise, which means Eyes' only suspense lies in whether director Luis Mandoki (Message in a Bottle) will allow the movie to turn as fuzzy-headed and sappy as it keeps threatening to become. He does. (R)
Bottom Line: High on J.Lo but low on Eyes
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