While not being a Hollywood triumph, Angel is a wonderful film. Showing life on the streets is a large premise of the film, it takes care to preserve some humor as well. Not in the sense that it is a funny movie, as it is not; but it shows life as... well, life.

As most people who watch movies can relate, the enjoyment of a movie is not as a critic would describe. If you can feel the emotions of the characters, you can love them. If you can relate to the characters, you can befriend them. If you can care about the characters, the writers did their job, and you are now hooked. While Angel will not likely be a model in film school as one of the great classics, nor as an example of how to make a great movie, it is a highly entertaining film. You can feel the characters, even though they are not deeply constructed. The exception being Angel herself, whom you can see the wear and tear she goes through as an honor student and a prostitute.

I firmly believe that there is a message to be heard here, a storyline full of life, fun and adventure. Granted, it is not the best kept together, it does do the trick of conveying the message of the story across. The film allows you to care for the star, feel for the star, and cry with the star. A compassionate film that has supporting cast as abstract as could be, a little far fetched, maybe... but who really knows what kind of characters are really out there on the streets. But their conveyances of who they are allows you to realize their sense of why they are there. They are scared, they need the money, or they love it. Each supporting role as different as the others, but allows you to see the richness of the film in its entirety.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film numerous times, and am sure that you will too. Regardless of critical un-acclaim, most filmgoers can still see the enjoyment in a movie. Give every movie a chance. Especially Angel, as it is one of the finer forms of the un-acclaimed heroes in rental today

This is a surprisingly sweet, even a wholesome film. The family that Angel /Molly has found on the streets is better than the family that abandoned her, and that seems to be the case for the entire cast of characters. You get this sense of a community of oddballs, ostracized for their sexuality or for unknown reasons, who have somehow found each other. There is so much care for each other. The killer is one of those 80s movie killers, trying to rid the world of sin, but the movie never once applies a sense of shame to its sex workers and other eccentrics. The killer is wrong to see them the way he does. They are all so human and so kind to one another. We were kind of clueless about a lot of things in the 80s, and the movie can be forgiven for eliding the truly sad realities of drug use and street life, because its mission isn't to show tragic hookers with hearts of gold, seeking redemption. It doesn't romanticize that life either. The people who meet and care about Angel want to get her off the streets because she is a damn child, but they don't judge her, they just protect her until she can do that. I also loved how clear the film is that she's actually a child. There were so many moments where she did something or reacted in a way that was so realistically 15 years old. I was surprised by this movie. It was . . . charming.

It seems strange to label an exploitation cheapie like this as heartwarming, but Angel does attempt to tug at the heartstrings a bit and it mostly works. The street characters are a charming group of social outcasts and the film's message about creating your own family is moving.

All of this warmth is dribbled over a not unusual, but still exciting "killer targeting sex workers" story. It works.