Almost an Angel 1990

Terry Dean, [Paul Hogan], a professional burglar who specialized in sabotaging electronic surveillance, stands before his release from yet another prison stint, leaving the guards and guards’ chatter in his wake as a prank goes haywire and the cell blocks buzz with disbelief. Following Bubba’s suggestion, he pivots to bank robbery with a twist of his own design: a modified universal remote that hijacks security cameras to show TV programs, and a disguise that lets him arrive as a celebrity to sow confusion before the crime.

His first heist, posing as Willie Nelson, is surprisingly successful, but a moment of impulse changes everything when he witnesses a young boy about to be struck by a van and rushes to push him out of harm’s way, only to be hit himself. In the hospital, he experiences a hazy, dreamlike moment—perhaps influenced by a TV program in the room—where God, [Charlton Heston], appears as Terry’s probation officer, offering a second chance to redeem a life spent on the wrong side of the law. This vision plants a new idea in Terry’s mind: he has earned a fleeting chance to do God’s work as an angel in training.

When Terry awakens, he tests his gifts again by attempting another bank robbery, this time disguised as Rod Stewart; luck arrives in the form of a gang of amateur thieves who intrude on the scene, and the youngest among them tries to shoot Terry, only to have the weapon misfire with blanks thanks to an ally’s ruse. Believing himself to be an immortal angel, Terry heads toward a church and, guided by a sense of purpose, donates and even returns the money from the Nelson heist. He follows a string of signs to a new town—marked by clues like a moving company named “Moses Bros.” and a local bar called “Paradise Bar”—where his path intersects with Steve Garner, [Elias Koteas], a conflicted young man bound to a wheelchair by a terminal illness.

In a transformative moment, Terry invites Steve to a test of strength—an equal, no-holds-barred fistfight staged on a stool—an act that breaks through Steve’s isolation and earns him a place at a youth center for children and teens run by Steve and his sister Rose, [Linda Kozlowski]. Rose is initially wary, but Terry proves his goodwill by standing up to drug dealers and lending a hand with the center’s activities, from boxing lessons to repairing arcade games. Rose gradually uses her skepticism to gauge Terry’s real intentions, especially as the center faces a financial crisis because its backer, George Bealeman, [Parley Baer], claims to be devout but refuses to fund the project any longer.

To save the center, Terry leverages his technical know-how and Bealeman’s faith, secretly recording and re-editing a segment from TV evangelist Reverend Barton’s telecast, [Ben Slack], and then installing lighting effects on the rooftop cross of the center’s church. The plan works in tandem with Steve’s help as they push Bealeman toward a renewal of support, and Bealeman is moved to reconsider his position. Yet as this storm of activity unfolds, two detectives close in on Terry, threatening to unravel everything.

Steve overhears the approaching danger and races to warn Terry, but a fatal accident occurs when a sack of glass bottles shatters and cuts his femoral artery, leaving him to bleed out in a dramatic, poignant moment. Bealeman, still inspired, arrives at the center just as Rose places a call for help, and Steve dies in Terry’s arms, momentarily comforted by the sign of the lighted cross—an unmistakable message from God. Terry, shaken but resolute, tells Rose that he is “almost an angel,” a revelation that she accepts with a blend of faith and doubt.

In the aftermath, Rose discovers that the universal remote that ties Terry’s actions to the cross is missing batteries, yet the cross shines on its own as Terry steps away. A speeding truck bears down, and the figure of Terry is momentarily rendered invisible as the truck passes through him, confirming to Rose—and to the audience—that he has truly died and earned another chance as an angel. With the promise to return, Terry resumes his celestial mission, while Rose remains behind, determined to carry on the work at the center and honor the memory of the man who walked among them as both a fallen soul and a hopeful, guiding light.