Angelic Indictment

Okay, so fans of Ronald Reagan got CBS to dump a biopic from its schedule. Frank Rich writes that an upcoming TV version of “Angels in America” is far more searing and controversial. “This epic is, among other things, a searing indictment of how the Reagan administration’s long silence stoked the plague of AIDS in the 1980’s. If “Angels” reaches an audience typical for HBO hits, it could detonate a debate bloody enough to make the fight over “The Reagans” look like an exhibition bout. That’s not such a big if. “Angels” is the most powerful screen adaptation of a major American play since Elia Kazan’s “Streetcar Named Desire” more than a half-century ago.”