Movie Review ~ Ordinary Angels

You can never say that I don’t do inspirational schmaltz because I’m the guy who lives for the announcement of the new Hallmark Christmas movies every year (and won’t pass up any of their other seasonal films if the mood strikes me). My DVR has been filled with made-for-TV films across multiple networks for the last two years, but I have yet to get to it. Suffice it to say that I’m okay with being emotionally manipulated if I know that’s what you are setting out to do to me. It’s those gnarly sneak attacks of close-to-home realism that rub me, and many others, from what I gather, the wrong way.  

Ordinary Angels has all the signs of a movie coming at your heartstrings with vigor, so you better reinforce them before firing this one up because you’ll need it. While it’s no colossal revelation from a storytelling point of view, and as a crafted film, it’s on par with most mid-budget Hollywood fare that comes down the road around this time of year; there’s something downright cozy about the way its well-tested recipe of a plot has been whipped up. Even when it veers into faith-based territory (another slightly sneaky turn by the filmmakers), it doesn’t take on that mantle with a cloying preachiness that can weigh a film’s message down. 

A news report first brought Ed Schmitt and his family to the attention of Louisville hairdresser Sharon Stevens in 1994. With his youngest daughter Michelle requiring a life-saving liver transplant, the widowed father of two was facing mounting medical bills and the possibility of losing his family home. At the time, Stevens (as scripted by actress Meg Tilly and Kelly Fremon Craig) was also in a difficult place in her life. Her drinking had created a rift between her and her son that, despite her repeated efforts, she was unable to mend. When her best friend and co-worker Rose suggests she needs help, visiting an AA meeting doesn’t wake her up as much as it recalibrates her energy.

That energy is put toward helping Schmitt get back on his feet and ensure that Michelle (Emily Mitchell, Priscilla) has everything she needs when her name comes up on the transplant list. At first, Schmitt (Alan Ritchson, Ghosts of War) is wary of the pushy woman who wants to see his finances and stops by unannounced with ideas on how to get him into a better place. Eventually, with the urging of his mother (Nancy Travis, So I Married An Axe Murderer) and Sharon’s persistence, he accepts the help being offered. He understands the degree to which a capacity of kindness can affect change. Sharon’s community-wide effort is far-reaching and works as much to heal her wounds as it does to ease the burdens facing the Schmitt family.

In a role that had to have been modeled off Erin Brockovich, two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank reminds us again why she’s an actress you can’t take for granted. On the surface, playing a steamrolling character like Sharon appears to be a one-size-fits-all job, but Swank adds extra layers of pain underneath it all that allows the part to come alive. The broken elements of her life can’t be fixed by what she’s doing for this family, but it demonstrates a commitment to showing up for others that had previously been lacking. Swank knows when to go big and how to highlight the subtleties of quiet passages that reveal Sharon’s most vulnerable corners. A tireless actor, Swank (The Homesman) works consistently and not always in the most noteworthy projects, but she’s reliably on target with her emotions in whatever she appears in.

Swank’s co-star is the hunky Ritchson, who nicely ditches the brawn of his role on Amazon’s Jack Reacher series for his turn as a soft-spoken father trying to keep his (very tan) head above water. Screenwriters Tilly (an actress best known for The Big Chill) and Craig (who directed 2023’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.) aren’t shy about letting Ritchson have the spotlight, and his silent strength comes in handy as the film progresses through late-breaking (formulaic) developments. It’s always nice to see Travis, whom I’ve enjoyed since the Three Men and a Baby/Little Lady films, and Tamala Jones (What Men Want) provides solid supporting work as Rose.

Jon Gunn has expertise overseeing faith-based films and is known for his previous works such as The Case for Christ, Do You Believe?, Mercy Streets, and producing the hits Jesus Revolution and I Still Believe.  There’s a thoughtfulness to this project, though, that is matched by the screenplay, which allows it to function with a little less rigidity than the films I’ve mentioned while still highlighting the positive messages of hope and redemption. After the fact, I learned more about the true story that likely should have been included in the film (certainly at the end). Still, in some respects, I can understand why Tilly and Craig left a central plot point around Ed’s other daughter, Ashley (Skywalker Hughes), out of the film. In the same way Sean Durkin left material out of The Iron Claw, you can only include so much heartache without losing the audience.  Still, there’s a nagging feeling you have after knowing what’s been deliberately left out that weakens the rest of the film’s sweetly genuine approach to its subject.

Bumped from its original October release date, which makes the holiday setting of the idealistic finale a tad less impactful, Ordinary Angels is nonetheless a celebration of humanity at its best. It may be too saccharine for the acrid, but I found its intentions genuine. While it stretches plausibility as it moves through an awkwardly mechanical third act that doesn’t seem in harmony with the gentle hum of the ninety minutes that came before it, the message it delivers is sorely needed right now. We can be pretty cynical toward others and the state of our country, but this serves as a winning reminder of how far we can go when we work together for a goal more significant than ourselves.

Ordinary Angels will be available in theaters nationwide on February 23, 2024.