We're No Angels is a 1989 American comedy film directed by Neil Jordan. It stars Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, and Demi Moore. This was Jordan's last film to receive a PG-13 rating by the MPAA, until Ondine in 2009.
Plot
A couple of 1930s Great Depression-era convicts, Ned and Jim, jailed on never-specified charges and abused by a ruthless warden, are dragged along when a vicious killer named Bobby escapes the electric chair.
The two end up in a small upstate New York town near the Canada–US border, where they are mistaken for a pair of priests expected at the local monastery. They want to flee but cannot, since misunderstandings and the warden's search party looking for Bobby make a trip across the bridge to Canada almost impossible.
Ned and Jim continue to masquerade as priests, trusted and welcomed by Father Levesque. An opportunity presents itself in the form of a procession to the church's sister church across the border. Each priest participating has to bring along someone who needs help, so they decide on the deaf-mute daughter of Molly, a local laundress and prostitute.
Bobby is killed by police during the procession. Ned saves Molly's daughter from drowning, after this event she is able to speak. Jim is befriended by a young monk and decides to stay in the monastery to actually become a priest. Ned takes Molly and her daughter to Canada.
Cast
- Robert De Niro as Ned
- Sean Penn as Jim
- Demi Moore as Molly
- Hoyt Axton as Father Levesque
- Bruno Kirby as Deputy
- Ray McAnally as Warden
- James Russo as Bobby
- Wallace Shawn as Translator
- John C. Reilly as Young Monk