30 Second Bottom Line: A policewoman is saved from certain death by a mysterious man, and they fall in love. He may be an angel, wandering the city streets at night, never sleeping, and she may be a cop whose mind is always on the job, and who can never love anyone.
Story Line: Sharon Pogue (Jennifer Lopez) is a Chicago cop, who like Nicolas Cage in Bringing out the Dead, wants to do good, by saving people and making the streets safer. As the film opens, Sharon is at the scene of an automobile accident, where we see bodies being removed in black bags, while she talks to a person who clearly is seriously injured. While we don't see the face of the injured person, we see things from their point of view as the camera looks into the worried face of Sharon.
Sharon is a cop who looks like she could be a model, but she is more likely to rough up street thugs than her partner Robby (Terrence Howard). While on a date Sharon is not able to engage in small talk, because her interest is not in developing a relationship, but in just having sex. Robby lets her know, in a non-committal way, that he may be able to help her in her personal life as well as on the job, if it's sex that she wants.
Her abuse of street thugs leads to a machine gun, drive-by attack on a cop hang out, which results in a chase where Sharon would have been killed, were it not for the seemingly miraculous appearance of Catch Lambert (Jim Caviezel). Sharon invites him out for a drink, as a thank you, that leads to a date and they slowly develop a love relationship. They agree they were destined to meet…but is this the first time, or have they met before?
Sharon learns from her brother that their parents (Carl and Josephine…Victor Argo and Sonia Braga), are going to renew their marriage vows. Although she is invited to the ceremony, her father has not spoken to Sharon in ten years, and she rarely sees her mother. Sharon gets a radio call to her brother's house. We find that he has beaten his wife, Kathy. We also learn why the father will not speak to her.
Tell Me More About It: The scenes between Sharon and her parents are so strong that they make the film a winner. The concept of forgiveness is shown in a way that is not preachy and I'm sure is something we all can relate to.
More contrived mystery and intrigue is thrown into this movie than there should be; and often it rings false. One minute we are on the street, dealing with the low life's of society (those who call women bitches), and the next we are thinking about the concept of life really being a series of millions of minutes, in which each one counts.
At times we are not sure if the film is about the supernatural, like What Dreams May Come (Robin Williams and Cuba Gooding Jr.), or a buddy cop movie, a love story, or one about spousal and child abuse. To a degree it's about all of those things, and that keeps you from focusing on getting a depth of feeling about anything other than spousal abuse. A few less plot points would have added more to the film.
It's refreshing to see Terrence Howard play a role that is suave yet not intense. The bantering between Robby and Sharon is very natural; how partners might really talk. He is married but lets her know that if she needs "servicing," to be sure to let him know. That's real world stuff on how a happily married man can get into trouble, especially if a beauty like Lopez makes it convenient. But it's obvious they've got each other's backs on the job.
Certainly the scenes of Sharon and Catch trying to find a place to comfortably make love in the nude in a state park after going swimming was kind of corny and unrealistic. There is just something about their love of each other that is too surreal, even after the truth is revealed. Now, they do say, "It doesn't have to be perfect" for it to work and that's something to think about because no love is always perfect.
Mini Filmography
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