Hilary Swank's latest film is here – Ordinary Angels is based on a real-life story and contrasts the cruelness of the US healthcare system with the kindness of strangers, and strikes the right balance between uplifting and schmaltzy.
Swank plays Sharon, a plucky hairdresser in small-town Kentucky, with alcohol issues a-plenty, who loves rhinestones, dancing on bars and double denim. She reads about a local family in the newspaper, in which the mother has died and her daughter - five-year-old Michelle (Emily Mitchell) - has inherited the same life-limiting liver disease – and things aren’t looking good. Sharon becomes instantly taken with their story and wants to help.
The family in question – the Schmitts - is led by the stoic, strong and silent father Ed, played beautifully here by Reacher lead man Alan Ritchson, who is completely playing against type but shows fantastic versatility.
Sharon infiltrates the family, discovering the true magnitude of the Schmitts’ debt from late wife Theresa’s hospital bills. Further bills for daughter Michelle come in thick and fast as it becomes clear that the little girl’s only chance of survival is a liver transplant.
The story shows the power of kindness, human decency and how Sharon moves mountains to get this family back on track. Co-produced by a company that specializes in Christian films [an enormous market in the US], there’s a strong Christian message at play here, leading to a slightly preachy, on-the-nose 7th Heaven feel throughout.
But I’m not hating – schmaltzy and clichéd as many of the beats in the film are, I couldn’t help but get swept up in this story and shed many a tear as Ordinary Angels used every trick in the book to pull on the heartstrings. Watching a child deteriorate is simply heartbreaking and here, it feels all too realistic.
The film builds to a dramatic and lengthy final chapter where a huge blizzard hits just as a life-saving liver becomes available for Michelle.
The time window is extremely tight and everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. It’s shot brilliantly, is gripping and you’ll will the characters on every step of the way.
Swank is competent as always but the screenplay sadly doesn’t allow for answers to why her character is the way she is – the good and the bad – and that’s an oversight, considering her acting credentials.
A last-minute appearance of Sharon’s estranged son at the film’s climax is perhaps one cliché too far and a little eyeroll-inducing, as is a scene where medical debt is wiped out after a particularly plucky Sharon takes on the big wigs of a hospital from across the boardroom - this part feels somewhat far-fetched.
Nevertheless, Ordinary Angels has all the ingredients to make you regain faith in humanity, so I advise bring tissues galore and feel all the feels.
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