The story told in this movie is based on a very interesting idea. How the children can deal with the crimes of their fathers? We saw that drama in many artistic creations, some good, some with less qualities.
But Descending Angel is simply a primitive tale with a very predictable ending.
The most disappointing part of it is the sloppy work of the director Jeremy Kagan. Having such a brilliant actor as George Scott and charming Diane Lane, Kagan succeeded to spoil the story by selecting Eric Roberts for the major role. Roberts always overplays his emotions, but in this movie he surpassed even himself, acting at the level of a school theater.
And all the goofs that are generously scattered over the whole movie! For insatnce, Michael, played by Roberts, runs away from thugs who follow him in a car. All he needs to do is to jump into the wood in which he's running. But he runs like a rabbit between the car lights until he comes back to the place where the thugs can shoot him. And what is that place? The church entry where the crowd assembled and where even a criminal would not shoot a rifle.
Or, when Michael enters the church basement, he clearly shuts the door behind. Several minutes later the door is open which pulls the attention of a guard.
To sum it up, watch that movie only if you are really bored and don't have anything better to do.
Review of Descending Angel
