Ordinary Angels

As someone who is not religious at all, I have been pleasantly surprised by the caliber of films formally billed as faith-based in 2024. This is a well-crafted, largely accurate retelling of a real story which is human-centered first, systemic second and keeps prayer, God's will, etc. At the margins, and it is all the stronger for it.

In fact, while religion often presents larger-than-life figures, it appears that the largest deviation from reality was in giving Sharon (the friendly not-quite-neighbour driving the plot with her laser-focused commitment on keeping the deathly ill Michelle alive until her transplant) a struggle with alcoholism she appears not to have had in real life - perhaps deciding she would come across as too much of an angel otherwise. The other possibility is that making her more flawed than she was made Michelle's father stubborn reluctance about accepting aid seem a bit less ungrateful - a dynamic also seen in the broadly comparable Unsung Hero that year.

In all, it's hard not to stunned by the sheer range of obstacles standing in the way of Michelle's survival - both systemic and natural. After the family and their helper angels in town push through the creeping bills in one way or another again, again and AGAIN, the blizzard at the end is the kind of complication you would dismiss in a fictional script as too convenient, yet it absolutely happened, and the scenes caused by it are not just alternately tense and inspiring, but also remarkably well-directed for a "true story" film.

Admittedly, the other way in which the blizzard is convenient is that it allows for a great conclusion without grappling with the elephant in the room of the U. S. healthcare system. In the richest country in the world, a family maybe shouldn't need to rely on a chance encounter with "angel" who had nothing else to devote her life to avoid literal destitution while waiting for their daughter's transplant. In the film, that thought hangs in the air throughout - too fragile for the filmmakers to touch, since they would rather have us see it as divine providence.

As it is, this is a story of a town which came together and made a real effort to save one of their own - and then apparently took a step back and allowed the same thing to keep happening to other people in their country in the 30 years since. Out of sight, out of mind. It would have been more courageous to make that subtext into text - but even now, this point is hard to miss, so I still feel comfortable recommending this film with minimal reservations.

P. S. When it comes to the topic of organ donation, one could pose even more uncomfortable questions about for-profit transplants - a practice considered so ethically fraught it is apparently only legal in the Islamic Republic of Iran, where it by turns encourages exploitation yet also largely eliminates the grief of losing a family member to an organ donation waiting list. Since Michelle was a young child at the time, such an option would not have been available even under the Iranian system, so I don't fault the film for not mentioning it.

Based on a remarkable true story, ORDINARY ANGELS centers on Sharon Steves (Hilary Swank), a fierce but struggling hairdresser in small-town Kentucky who discovers a renewed sense of purpose when she meets Ed Schmitt (Alan Ritchson), a widower working hard to make ends meet for his two daughters. With his youngest daughter waiting for a liver transplant, Sharon sets her mind to helping the family and will move mountains to do it.

I only watched this because I like Hilary Swank, and she did not disappoint. In fact there was not a single bad actor in the entire film. From the receptionist to the 5 year old girl they all played a blinding part and made you totally absorbed and immersed in the story. A true story too.

It's a feel good story with no romance or magic or miracles, just plain people coming together to help other plain people out. It shows what can be possible when we all get together and really try.

I loved the real footage from the time which underscored how ordinary people with a little faith and a lot of human kindness moved mountains to save one little girl.

Believe in good.

A solid 8 from me.

I was really looking froward to this movie when I saw the trailer - it didn't disappoint.

Troubled Sharon (Hillary Swank), while struggling with her own alcohol addiction, finds a new calling in her life to help a family: Ed (Alan Ritchson) is a widow with two girls, one of whom has a liver disease and not only are the medical bills up the roof, but the little girl also needs a liver transplant. Sharon is a big-mouthed, loud and cheerful woman, also pushy, and someone who doesn't take no for an answer. Her assertiveness and lack of ability to respect boundaries makes her succeed in all the activities, fundraisers and meetings she organises to help the family financially. It is also something that you kind of question, whether it was actually true: did this family just let her in their home so easily? Accept the money and let her look after the girls too, when she was a complete stranger? .

Hillary Swank and Alan Ritschon have great chemistry, the dialogues are funny, with some scenes pretty hilarious. Some parts are really hard to believe, but overall it is an enjoyable movie.

Hillary Swank is endearing, amusing, and heartbreaking in this based on reality tale. Alan Ritchson is much more convincing in this much more heartfelt portrayal than anything I have seen him in before. He really makes you feel for the character. Even little Emily Mitchel is believable as the child with a deadly illness that can only be cured by a donated organ.

The story is compelling, especially considering it's roots in actual events. It also manages to be a little surprising in spite of the last-minute-miracle-based-on-actual-events genre tropes. What really makes this movie work is the great acting, tight direction, and cinematography that gets you right into the middle of everything.

It's feel good entertainment at it's near best.

A heart-warming family entertainment starring Hilary Swank, "Ordinary Angels", based on a true story, is set in rural Louisville, Kentucky in the early 90's and centres around the family of Alan Ritchson's Ed character. Sadly, this is a family struck by tragedy as we quickly learn that after giving birth to two daughters, his wife dies only five years later. Even worse, their youngest daughter, has a life-threatening kidney disorder and because hard-working but hard-up family man Ed can't afford medical insurance, the bills for little Michelle's specialist treatment just keep piling up. His devoted mother pitches in to help but clearly the family is about to go under...

Which is where the town hairdresser, Hilary Swank's Sharon Stevens comes in. She too is a struggling single parent, although her apparent predilection for drink has estranged her from her teenage-musician son. It seems as if her life too is on a downward spiral until she crashes the family funeral and hooks up with Ed and his adorable daughters as a result of which she decides to help them out. This she promptly proceeds to do, beginning with a fund-raising haircut-drive in her shop. But she doesn't stop there and soon afterwards drops full-square into the family's lives and despite his initial resistance, uses her business head and sheer cussedness when it comes to negotiating deals to take charge of Ed and his finances to help them stay afloat.

But little Michelle's condition takes a turn for the worse to the extent that only a kidney transplant can save her life. It all ends up in a madcap race in terrible winter conditions to get the little girl to a hospital six hours away and will require the willing cooperation of a number of "ordinary angels", coralled together by Sharon, to hopefully save the day.

Even if one suspects that some of the action is ramped up to varying degrees for dramatic effect and I'll include in that the suspiciously contrived-looking sub-plot of Sharon's broken relationship with her own boy, you'd have to have a heart as cold as Kentucky snow not to be warmed by this tear-jerker as it reaches its nail-biting climax.

Swank is very good as the boozy Stevens who finds her own self through helping others and Ritchson too shines as the big man pushed to his limits but whose obvious love for his kids pulls him through.

All in all, despite perhaps over-stoking the fire at times, this feel-good movie will put a smile on your face even as you at times will doubtless dab a tear or two away from your eyes.