(Writer's note: This review is based on a screening at the 2008 Ottawa International Animation Festival)
Bill Plympton is one of the true iconoclasts of American cinema. Through his Plymptoons imprint, he's become a one-man animation factory, churning out independent flicks and, in the process, teaching countless others that you can make your own movies outside of the studio system, if you just work hard enough.
Idiots and Angels, Plympton's 5th full-length animated film, is an incredible achievement technically, but the story doesn't quite fulfill the filmmaker's ambitions.
What's It About?
The movie follows an unnamed individual in an unnamed town. He's a morally bankrupt individual who lives only to smoke cigarettes, drink booze, harass his bartender's neglected wife, sell guns and blow up people who annoy him. But he's soon forced to reassess his life when angels' wings start sprouting from his back. The wings also force him to perform acts contrary to his selfish nature, whether it's singlehandedly foiling an armed robbery or saving a woman's life.
In doing so, his personality undergoes a tectonic shift, as he learns that you get what you give as people start responding to his kinder nature with kindnesses of their own.
Unfortunately, certain others around him don't share in that important life lesson. Whether it's a doctor who wants to use the wings to pursue his dreams of celebrity or the bar owner who wants them for his own nefarious ends, these people want the power without the responsibility or morality that comes with them.
Idiots and Angels Doesn't Fulfill Bill Plympton's Lofty Ambitions
Plympton deserves full marks for a very cool concept. The idea of having goodness forced upon a complete scumbag, who then learns the value of altruistic behaviour, is very relevant to this "do unto others before they do it to you" world we live in.
This movie is also a complete knockout, technically speaking. The filmmaker, who received a 2005 Academy Award nomination for his short film "Guard Dog," single-handedly draws every single frame of his films, a stunning achievement.
Idiots and Angels also one-ups Disney/Pixar's WALL-E. Where Andrew Stanton's blockbuster was dialogue-free for the first 1/3 of the movie, Plympton goes far beyond that by having no dialogue for the entire flick. The characters convey emotion through assorted grunts and screams, or via dream bubbles that sprout from their heads. It's a highly effective technique that soon makes one forget that you're never actually hearing words.
Storywise, the execution is not so strong. Idiots and Angels rests upon the main character's personality shift from total ratbag to someone who strives to make his world a better place for himself and those around him. The protagonist's struggles with the morality his wings impose upon him is realistic, and his sudden realization that his selfish and cruel deeds come back to haunt him in unexpected ways is well-handled, but the viewer never really sees his development into a better person, to the point that he no longer needs the wings in order to be good.
The Final Analysis
Bill Plympton deserves major kudos for making his 5th feature-length movie all on his own (to be fair, Signe Baumane inks and colours Plympton's frames). Still, considering how labour intensive animation is, that's a major undertaking by any stretch of the imagination.
Idiots and Angels is a brilliant concept and a spectacular accomplishment, but a little more prep at the script and storyboard level could have made this movie Plympton's masterwork. It receives a 6/10.
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