I like Jennifer Lopez a lot. Heck, I even saw The Wedding Planner -- an awful movie made palatable by her presence. But with poor acting and an unrealistic plot, not even Lopez can make Angel Eyes work.

Angel Eyes is a love story, a good old-fashioned Hollywood romance where we’re supposed to actually care about the characters, Sharon and Catch. The problem is that we don’t.

Catch, played by James Caviezel, is a loner who seems more like a down-and-out street person than the misunderstand Good Samaritan he purports to be. Sharon Pogue, played by Jennifer Lopez, is a tough-as-nails cop who keeps her defenses up whenever men come calling. Through chance these two are drawn together. Is it fate? The movie seems to want you to believe that, but this half-baked plot has no other plausible excuse to offer. If this were real life, Sharon would take one look at Catch’s creepy habits, poor hygiene, and going-nowhere-fast attitude and show him the door quite quickly. This is a woman with her defenses up around everyone, but when this loser comes to call, all of her logic goes out the door.

Angel Eyes attempts to mimic M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense or Unbreakable -- movies with a decidedly supernatural feel and slow-building character development that draws the viewer in over time. But Angel Eyes fails, and its characters act so foolishly that it’s hard not to turn your head away, smirk with disgust, and want to run for the door.

Jennifer Lopez is always good to look at -- and for that this film gets one star. Another star is also given for the fact that at least the filmmakers tried to do something here that is somewhat original and not completely formulaic like we see so often. Honestly, though, I’m being generous. Angel Eyes just doesn’t work. It ends up with a ** rating, with the hope that Lopez picks a better film next time.

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