“When they ask me what I liked best...I'll say it was you.”

Nicolas Cage gives a wonderful performance as Seth, an Angel who falls in love and begins to long for the ability to express that love, in a film that in some respects resembles the 1930s film “Death Takes a Holiday” starring Fredric March and Evelyn Veneble. Seth’s assignment as an angel is to help the dead cross over in this quasi-remake of the Wim Wenders’ foreign film, “Wings of Desire.” Few films since the glory days of Hollywood and the old studio system have been given the romantic glow of this film. This is one of those rare instances when Hollywood remade a foreign film and it was better, more accessible, and much more romantic.

Meg Ryan is Maggie, the heart surgeon who is the object of Seth’s affection. He is stunned when she somehow senses his presence when trying to save one of her patients, and is then touched and bewildered by her. Andre Braugher steals every scene he is in as Seth’s fellow Angel and friend. They all hang out at the library — where better for Angels to hang out — and gather every morning at the beach to see the sunrise and hear the singing of heaven.

Dennis Franz has a fine turn as a patient in Maggie’s hospital who knows Seth is there. As he and Seth become friends, Seth contemplates how wonderful it would be to truly be able to love Maggie in the flesh, and searches for the courage to leave Heaven behind, and simply fall.

This was one of the most romantic movies to come out of Hollywood in decades and has a message about the wonderful things we all take for granted. More than that, it is a story about the importance of love, even one felt for only a moment, for it is that experience which makes us special among all creation. To love is all, and to be loved in return is truly divine.

There are some memorable scenes in this romantic and haunting film. One involves the simple act of shopping for fruit at a Farmer’s Market. Another involves Maggie being able to feel Seth in her room but not able to see him. Even Hemingway’s Moveable Feast plays a part in this magical throwback film, which might just as easily have been made in the 1930s.

I will not ruin the last portion of this film if you have not seen it, but as we all know there is a price we pay for being human. This film is for anyone who has ever loved someone as Seth does, who would trade all eternity for just one breath of her hair. If you have ever loved someone so much your heart ached when they were not with you, then you will be deeply moved by this film. It is painted in broad romantic brushstrokes and colored in rich oils not easily removed from our hearts. A truly memorable film that romantics will watch time and again. ( )