Unlikely Angel

This is a sweet and happy holiday film where we get to watch Dolly in her prime working with the legendary Roddy McDowall. A fun film from the mid-90's, slightly dated due to an average film transfer but overall a nice time waster if you enjoy Christmas movies.

This is a movie that is not too deep, in the literary sense, but very deep emotionally. If you have lost wife or husband (and I don't mean in the cosmetic or sporting goods section), or have gone through a traumatic experience with a wife or girlfriend, this movie will really hit home. Dolly was never my favorite actress, but she definitely came up a few notches in this movie. I started out not liking her character at all, but she later makes amends. As I said before, it's not deep, but even if you have been through a divorce and have had a tough time coping with your relationship with your kids, it will hit the buttons. Her second song made me want to right out & find it on CD. And I am NOT a country music fan.

Dolly Parton has shown enough charm over the years to have developed a sideline as an actress. She may not have great range but films such as Unlikely Angel are a good display of her acting talents.

Ruby is a small town country music singer who dies in a road crash. At the pearly gates Angel Peter (Roddy McDowall) tells her that in order to gain her wings she must go back to earth as a nanny to help a widower and his dysfunctional family over the Christmas holidays.

The father is too busy at work, the teenage daughter is getting rebellious, the younger son spends too much time on video games.

Ruby has short time to get the family to bond but every time she thinks she has got them together, something goes wrong and its back to square one. The film really thrives on Dolly's charms and a few songs help. The Christmas setting gives it a schmaltzy feel, its a decent if predictable television film.

Right, well I have to say that I wasn't exactly harboring the biggest of expectations to this 1996 movie, as I sat down to watch it for the first time ever here in 2024. Yeah, I just can't claim to be a fan of Dolly Parton, neither her music or acting. But with "Unlikely Angel" being a movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I opted to sit down and watch what director Michael Switzer had to offer.

The storyline was every bit as sugar-coated sweet, generic and predictable as you would expect from a movie such as this. But there still was something oddly entertaining about it. So, I guess, in a way writers Catherine Ann Jones, Liz Coe and Robert L. Freedman did actually manage to conjure up something entertaining. Sure, it was watchable, especially if you enjoy these kind of syrupy Christmas family movies.

It was nice to see an actor like Roddy McDowall showing up in a movie such as this, and he definitely added a lot to the overall impression of the movie. As for leading actress Dolly Parton, well, you know what you are getting here. But hey, on the plus side, if you are a fan of hers, then you're in for a treat with this movie. Of the entire cast ensemble, then I was only actually familiar with Dolly Parton and Roddy McDowall.

Of course there is an audience out there for a movie such as "Unlikely Angel", no doubt about that. And I am sure that to that particular audience then the movie is a great watch. I found "Unlikely Angel" to be a watchable and sort of entertaining enough movie, I will admit to that much.

My rating of director Michael Switzer's 1996 movie "Unlikely Angel" lands on a six out of ten stars.

I liked the movie. Predictable but entertaining. I'll have to admit, I'm a Dolly fan! She always plays good parts. Even in Nine to Five, she meant well in everything she did. The actors did an OK job of portraying their characters. CLEAN except for a few shots of Dolly. Language is fairly clean except for the word dam-it. Unfortunately it is all too true that the real world today focuses on the job, career, kids are left to fend for themselves, parents don't know how to be parents, etc. I would watch it again. Sometimes I think my grown up kids could learn some things, even from a simple movie like this one.

Better than some of the trash out there these days.