Angel is Funny Girl/Lady meets Gone with the Wind meets Grey Gardens just before it went to seed. I wasn’t sure if visually Francois Ozon was aiming for homage in Angel like Todd Haynes in Far From Heaven. Since Ozon has made such daring films as Under the Sand and Swimming Pool, I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say homage, but each time someone gets in a car, the worst green screen ever appears and made me wonder if it was Ozon’s first day on the job. The first hour of Angel is dated, but has important elements that become important as the story unfolds. Angel is awful as a person, but if you hang in there, there are some interesting concepts about stubbornly creating your art as linked to survival, and if you are not willing to put your art in the world, then you won’t. Angel is loosely based on a real life writer, Marie Corelli, who was very popular in her day and is not well known now. Not a must see and definitely not a hit, but something is there if you can hang in there. Angel is more than a step up from a CBS Sunday night bio pic, but not visually.