Taking true stories with a grain of salt on the silver screen can be hard sometimes since Hollywood is known for dramatizing events just for the hell of it or it’s impossible to believe if it even happened period. “Ordinary Angels”, unfortunately, will fall strictly into both halves of that category but suffer fallback more from the former because of the massive disservice it does telling an amazing story in the most uninteresting of ways.
Seeing as faith based films are currently one of the largest growing niches in mainstream cinema nowadays, fusing it with mid-budget, family-friendly dramas like this that have gone by the wayside in recent years seemed like a match made in heaven. And while I’m of two minds on this story, the brunt of it is this: its heart is in the right place at the end of the day and goddamn it, it gives me some hope for this world. It’s both inoffensive and heartwarming in equal measure despite it’s overwhelming saccharine scent threatening to suffocate you; putting aside the choice to focus more on Sharon than the family, it’s heartwarming enough to shy away from a lot of potential cheesiness but presents its topics with careful conviction, such as its disheartening yet important message on the state of healthcare. So many vulnerable and scared patients have to accept financial toxicity as the norm for this vicious, generational cycle healthcare provides to those who can’t afford it, not realizing that deciding between health and having food on the table should not be a given. It’s a fight that they do address enough to establish its weight and importance and you can pick apart the significance of how much it contributes to both halves of the story.
Between the fight for better healthcare, Sharon’s redemption and trying to save Ed’s daughter, they all have enough of the same bone marrow to bleed into each other seamlessly…..only to be undone by the lack of balance between them. And what’s more, it is really hard to not look at this entire sequence of events as blatant emotional manipulation. It might not be as overtly heavy handed as other Christian based films but it's obvious Meg Tilly and Kelly Fremon Craig (yes, really) have taken a great deal of dramatic license to up the ante on the hurdles facing Ed, Michelle, and Sharon. A good chunk of its additions are either overkill or extremely on the nose and after a while, it’s difficult not to notice the film spinning its wheels and stalling out its momentum until we get to the climax.
I can forgive this film being very light on depth and overdressing itself in surface-level melodrama and every “based on a true story” cliche in the book but for a story this remarkable and extraordinary, most of it is either superfluous, disingenuous or both. And its tendency to zip by so many crises and so many good deeds for the family undermines the emotional impact of what actually gets accomplished. Look, you can call this review insensitive for criticizing a film based on stuff that actually happened if you want but comparing the real events to the dramatized version in this movie should take but only a Google search or two to three YouTube videos to pick apart.
Jon Gunn has a thankfully straightforward trajectory in how he constructs his scenes and
I’d say it’s fine-tuned just enough to where it doesn’t complete feel like this was lazily rushed in by an automated NPC.
I’m torn on the overall aesthetics here; it does give off mid-90’s vibes in the way everything is presented and the lighting is nothing short of marvelous; the rather dim gritty look of the film paving the way for some beautiful shots but it can’t help feeling even A LITTLE Hallmark-lite with its atmosphere. There’s a “Direct-to-TV” aura sprinkled throughout all three acts that tamper with how everything looks, especially as the cornered production design gives off a limited range to the otherwise respectable scope and scale the story provides.
Maya Bankovic’s cinematography thankfully doesn’t give off that same energy. Despite the wobbly stature of the camera and constant stuttering, there’s plenty of decent framing and the editing ain’t too shabby. Although, I wish I can say anything more about the musical score beyond its generic trappings; believe me, it lays the schmaltz on rather thick.
Most of the ensemble of characters here are thinly drawn and stereotypical, only meant to fulfill one role and nothing else. Though it must be said, that doesn’t hamper the acting that much. Hilary Swank and Alan Ritchson make the best with the material and pedestrian dialogue given, digging competent enough chemistry from one another and making their also-stale characters the best ones by default.