Ordinary Angels – Review
The “faith-based” film genre tends to get a lot of flack and dismissed, but recent films have had more mainstream success, for reasons somebody is probably writing a college thesis about at this point.
**NOTE: this post may be updated with audio once we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, you can read Mark’s review below. Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
116 Minutes, Rated PG
Written by Kelly Fremon Craig and Meg Tilly
Directed by Jon Gunn
Synopsis:
Inspired by the incredible true story of a hairdresser who single-handedly rallies an entire community to help a widowed father save the life of his critically ill young daughter.
Based on the true story of a little girl in need of a liver transplant whose family has been financially and emotionally devastated by the extended medical care and ultimate death of her mother.
Enter Hilary Swank, channeling her inner Erin Brockovich as Sharon Stevens, an alcoholic hairdresser at a crossroads, who discovers the Schmitt family and their plight from a local newspaper article. Sharon unceremoniously, and mostly tactlessly, insinuates herself into the family’s struggle, pushing overwhelmed father, Ed (played by Alan Ritchson), to do more, ask for more, and most importantly, surrender more control to others who simply want to help if given the opportunity.
From addressing the $400 THOUSAND+ medical debt from his wife’s illness, to raising funds to help pay for young Michelle’s treatments while she waits on the transplant list, Sharon is everywhere. She babysits, makes muffins (the only thing she knows how to bake) as a way to get her foot into doors she otherwise wouldn’t get through, to literally shaming people into helping; she is a force of nature.
As her friend Rose tells her as she frantically tries to help, this is “addict behavior,” to which, in a quip worthy of any comedy special, Sharon replies “I might as well put it to use.”
The film unspools as you would expect, with a series of seemingly impossible (or at the very least, highly improbable) events leading to the feel-good conclusion.
And that’s what this movie is supposed to do: make you feel good.
The performances are solid, with Ritchson giving a surprisingly nuanced performance in light of his action-movie credentials (Reacher, Fast X) to accompany Swank’s often manic performance.
Sharon’s wisdom is dispensed like a rapid fire fortune cookie machine, with pearls of wisdom such as (when trying to get Ed more roofing jobs than he thinks he can handle) “Life is about saying ‘yes,’ then figuring out how,” and, while categorizing stacks of bills after invading Ed’s home as Urgent, extremely Urgent, and Ignore: “I’ve started 4 small businesses in 20 years and I can tell you that some bills are like fine wine: they get better with age.”
What the film is NOT is preachy. There are a couple scenes set in church, and one of those is Teresa’s funeral, and a couple mentions of prayer, one of which is played beautifully between Ed and his older daughter, Ashley (Skywalker Hughes).
This is a film which revolves around the advice about saying Yes: often, if we don’t give ourselves time to decide why we CAN’T, we often simply wind up DOING the thing which would otherwise be impossible.
Ordinary Angels is about exactly that: ordinary people doing things they might not believe themselves capable of, from asking for help, to giving it without a second’s thought.
It is exactly the movie we need right now, whether you think so or not.
Ordinary Angels is in theaters now and stars Alan Ritchson, Hilary Swank, Amy Acker, Nancy Travis, Tamala Jones, Drew Powell, Skywalker Hughes, and Emily Mitchell.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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