Perhaps it is odd for a college student to truly enjoy spending time with immediate family, but can I just say, I have the coolest aunt in the world. My Aunt Kathleen is hilarious, relaxed and simply a blast to just hang out with. She’s also a huge movie buff. Her collection of movies is immense and her taste is impeccable. But when she asked me to sit and watch a six-hour HBO miniseries based off of an award winning play, I had my doubts.

As usual, I was completely wrong. “Angels in America” is, without a doubt, one of the best movies I’ve ever seen, and it really affected my perception of relationships and the world around me.

“Angels in America” was originally a play written by Tony Kushner. It is written for a cast of eight people, with each person playing multiple parts.

Don’t let that throw you off.

Each character is so in-depth and three-dimensional, you forget that the person playing the mom is also playing the night nurse, and simply get lost in the characters themselves.

During its run, the play won the Tony Award for Best Play two years in a row.

HBO eventually developed the play into a two-part miniseries that aired in 2003. The cast includesAl Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Justin Kirk, Ben Shenkman, Patrick Wilson, Jeffrey Wright and Mary Louise Parker. Each actor deliver an incredible performance in each of their many roles, and, the year it aired, “Angels in America” was the most watched cable movie on television.

It is the combination of the incredible cast paired with such an amazing script that makes this movie more than worth watching.

While a six-hour movie is quite a commitment, it is well worth the time. The story takes place in New York in the 1980s and showcases each of the characters individually as their lives intertwine.

With themes ranging from politics, to marriage, to AIDS and beyond, “Angels in America” examines life with an honesty that is both shocking and refreshing.

While the movie does require an open mind and a healthy imagination- at one point one of the characters wrestles an angel- it is not portrayed as fantasy, but as reality, forcing the viewer to stretch perception of the world as he or she knows it.

What makes this movie worth watching is the incredible, intense dialogue between each character, the phenomenal performances by every actor and the overall way the movie portrays the world.

Truly, “Angels in America” is one of the best movies of the century, and it’s a must see for all, humans and angels alike.

Windmills of My Mind is a column written by a different contributor every week on memories about a film, book, play, song, or piece of art. Interested in writing one? E-mail the editor at [email protected].