We're No Angels

Director Neil Jordan and screenwriter David Mamet, masters of dramatic intensity, take a detour into comedy—albeit of the dark, cynical variety—with this oft-overlooked remake of the 1955 Humphrey Bogart vehicle. Robert De Niro and Sean Penn star as two escaped convicts whose only prayer is to pass themselves off as priests as they try to flee across the Canadian border. Taking shelter in a small-town monastery, the pair must go to great lengths to sustain the ruse, as Jordan and Mamet explore questions of faith, hypocrisy, and redemption with incisive wit.