MovieChat Forums > Angel Heart (1987) Discussion > one thing that bothers me **SPOILERS**

one thing that bothers me SPOILERS

posted 12 years ago by baraka_12000
12 replies | jump to latest

First of all, I love this movie, imperfections and all. I've watched it 20+ times and never get tired of Rourke's performance.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**
One thing that I always wonder about though, is:

Johnny Favorite(suffering from amnesia) is released into Ethan/Margaret's care from the hospital and they take him to Times Square and drop him off hoping that this will trigger his memory about the "ritual" so that he can continue with his plan of deceiving the devil. This works in that Favorite remembers the Times Square scene and now thinks he is Harold Angel. A bit far-fetched but I am willing to accept this.

Believing now that he is the real Harold Angel, he gets his life together and becomes a private detective. However, in the 12-13 years between being dropped off in Times Square and becoming a P.I. wouldn't he try to at least look up family, friends, etc. of the real Harold Angel since that's who he thinks he really is? Obviously, if he did this, he would find out very quickly that he is not the real Harold Angel so there would be no movie but I wish they would've addressed this somehow. Unless they did and I missed it?

[–] Naughty-God 12 years ago

I always took it that the Harry Angel identity we see in the movie was a concoction and not a continuation of the original Harry whom Johnny murdered. Johnny's corrupted soul took over Harry's body and created the character we see throughout the film. In a sense, the Harry we see is running away from his real past even though he isn't aware of it. It's like an internal guilt mechanism that allows him to believe the lie that he's Harry Angel and not a former crooner who borrowed more life-span using Satan's powers.

(¯`i´¯)´·¸.)‹^›

[–] baraka_12000 12 years ago

Interesting response, I like it and will go with it :)

[–] al666940-3 12 years ago

The previous answer is correct except for one thing:

Favorite's soul never took over Angel's body. Favorite butchered Angel and ate his heart, then disposed of the remains and went on his merry way.

The point was to "spiritually" disguise himself as Angel (taking his soul) and thus cheat Satan out of his own soul (not sure how, but that's as far as the explanation goes).

But he only gained his memories, which were the ones that emerged when he recovered from the hospital, thus fooling himself into thinking he was Angel.

His real original memories don't emerge until after the final confrontation with Satan.

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Wandersong79 11 years ago

At the end Satan says both guys names. My theory is Satan knew what JF was up 2 the whole time so he guided JF 2 a soul that was already his. If HA was an orphan, familial ties wouldn't be a problem. Angel being a loner and the surgery would fool any friends he did have. All Satan did then was wait and watch until Epiphany was old enuff 2 join the party.
There can be only one.

[–] lastflip 11 years ago

Harry Angel always looked like that.They showed a pic of Johnny and he looked nothing like Harry.Even if he had surgery and didn't look the same,which I'm not sure of, he would still be Harold Angel to himself and the ppl he knew

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[–] Drooch 7 years ago

We never see Harry Angel properly, we only see Johnny Favourite's body (post facial reconstruction and briefly pre - in an old photo), so the OP is right to find it odd that he could pick up Angel's NY life with a wholly different bod. His friends and family would be freaked out when he rocked up at thanksgiving.

[–] Badlands1 7 years ago

Didn't Johnny get badly injured that his whole face needed reconstructive surgery, so Harry's family wouldn't recognize him except that he would have all of Harry's memories so it would work?

[–] Drooch 7 years ago

Well, they'd have to believe that a man who looks nor sounds anything like their son/brother/uncle Harry - is in fact Harry. The disfigured in the war story and same soul/memories might convince some people, but it's a stretch...

[–] ENGLISH_BLKE2 9 years ago

Perhaps based on him covering his tracks (by killing all those people), he unconsciously knew he wasn't Harold. So he didn't bother to try and live his life, and instead just used the details to begin a 'new' life.
It all depends on the idea of if he had a split personality, or if he unconsciously killed them (almost like sleep walking) then blacked out the memories because they were so disturbing.

It's certainly very ironic that he should choose to become a PI. Again if that was done unconsciously, it might even be a dark joke and middle finger to the Devil - as he is being paid to find people who have gone missing.
That would also make the Devil using his services to make him find himself all the more mocking and twisted.

[–] sonofbeach-sheet 7 years ago

That's "subconsciously". Anyway, suppose the real Angel had no surviving family members or had been on a missing person's list since New Years Eve 1943.

When he's told about "Johnny Favorite", he doesn't act worried like he's been caught, but he got a bit of a shiver when he saw the fans going before the interview started.

[–] mider2009 7 years ago

I think (only guessing) that Johnny transferred his soul into Harry's and thus was able to escape.