As much as we’d like to think everyone can be redeemed, there are terrible, awful people that do exist that make it hard to believe in change. Idiots and Angels takes one such person named Angel, and forces him through a highly unusual, creepy, and cynical redemption tale that involves a body transformation that’s less heavenly and more Kafkaesque. As he pulls feathers from his body, Angel’s miserable, terrible self has no choice but to act decently for once. It’s a unique transformation, one we wish our curmudgeonly acquaintances would have, and with no words spoken, Bill Plympton’s unique cross-hatched animation takes center stage. Idiots and Angels may not be the most perfect animated film out there, but it’s certainly one of its kind, something you’ve probably never seen before.
"Now in his early sixties, Plympton has made his most accomplished feature...his characters resemble images in motion rather than full-on animations, as if a Looney Tunes cartoon made love to a Ralph Steadman sketch."
— Eric Kohn
"Good battles evil as a gun-running, booze-swilling, cigarette-puffing badass is dragged, kicking and screaming, toward salvation in Bill Plympton's slyly sardonic black comedy, his best animated feature to date."
— Variety Staff
Angel, a selfish rotter is hanging around in a local bar, groping the wife of the barman and dealing with weapons. One morning he wakes up finding a pair of wings growing at his back. These wings do good deeds against his nature. But suddenly he finds himself fighting those who want these wings for their own dark plans.
Much to his surprise, utter misanthrope Angel is transformed to his namesake, when a pair of snow-white wings sprout from his back. The wings force him to do good deeds, and he desperately tries to get rid of them, but everyone in town now wants these wings for fame and fortune.
Mild spoilers. With a unique premise, story, and art style, Idiots and Angels might have held a stronger impression, but the side characters need a touch more tweaking, especially Blonde, Bart’s wife. The film’s treatment makes their endings feel so ludicrous, even when compared to wings sprouting out of a human body.
Now, how do I give angel wings on certain individuals…
