Tonight's Movie: Ordinary Angels (2024)

ORDINARY ANGELS (2024) is a satisfying and uplifting film about persevering through hard times with help from God and the kindness of strangers.

The film, based on a true story, is set in Kentucky in the early '90s.  Construction worker Ed Schmitt (Alan Ritchson) loses his wife Theresa (Amy Acker) to a rare disease.

Worse, their five-year-old daughter Michelle (Emily Mitchell) suffers from the same disease and will die fairly soon without a liver transplant.

While he copes with grief and caring for Michelle and her older sister Ashley (Skywalker Hughes), Ed is also drowning in medical debt.

Into Ed's life barrels hairdresser Sharon Stevens (Hilary Swank), who reads of the family's plight in the newspaper and feels inexplicably compelled to help.

Sharon has a fundraiser at her salon and raises over $3000, which she presents to Ed. It's the answer to prayer which will solve short-term problems, but the uninsured Ed owes a hospital hundreds of thousands of dollars for Theresa and Michelle's care...and when a liver becomes available Michelle will need a private plane to immediately fly her to the hospital in Nebraska.

It all seems insurmountable, but Sharon won't take no for an answer and sets about negotiating hospital bills and flights on behalf of the family.

Things start looking up for the Schmitts, but when a liver does become available for the fading Michelle, Kentucky has just been hit with a huge blizzard...

This was a very good film, written by Kelly Fremon Craig and actress Meg Tilly. Swank rings true as a woman we come to realize may be avoiding dealing with her own tragedies and addictive behavior by pouring herself into helping the Schmitt family -- which is exactly why she's an "ordinary angel."

It's a complex part in which Sharon's flaws are made clear, along with the positive aspects of her character, as she repeatedly convinces people to do the right thing. It's admittedly weird and almost stalker-ish when she first starts helping the family out of the blue, and yet she keeps pulling off minor miracles and gradually earns their trust.

My favorite moment came when she approached a bank president (Darcy Fehr) about the loan of his plane to get Michelle to the hospital, saying "I'm going to make you a hero!" Who could resist?

The rest of the cast are all solid, with particular kudos to Nancy Travis as Ed's mother.  Like her son, she's worn with grief and worry, and yet she gamely "keeps the faith" and encourages Ed to do the same.

Parental Advisory: This film is rated a straight PG (not PG-13). Given the subject matter, the film is rather dark at times, as the characters wrestle with tragedy, addiction, and faith, but ultimately it's very uplifting. That said, young children may find the storyline troubling.

The movie runs 118 minutes and was directed by Jon Gunn. It was filmed by Maya Bancovic.

I was initially persuaded to see the film thanks to a brief review by Leonard Maltin.

The trailer is here.

I saw this film at my local Cinemark Theatre, and I encourage readers to see it while it's still available theatrically.

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