While watching movies, I tend to begin composing my introductory paragraph in my head as the story unfolds.  This comes as plot points remind me of some past experience, which is always fertile ground for a writer in need of a hook.  The problem with Ordinary Angels is that it provides so many avenues of inspiration.  Perhaps this is related to the fact that it is based on true events.  Hollywood is apt to go for such scripts because audiences typically have some kind of connection to them.  However, this is not your typical big budget production.  This becomes evident before the film begins, with its director, producer, and star each having their turn to tell you how special is what you are about to watch.  This could have been a function of the early screening I saw, another aspect that was explicitly underscored in the pre-premier feature.  The studio, Kingdom Story Company, not only made this one, but is also behind others I have seen like American Underdog (2021) and Jesus Revolution (2023).  Thus, I felt I was in good hands with Ordinary Angels, and I am sure Unsung Hero will be of the same quality.  I will be returning to this topic in a moment, but for now I will say that I was satisfied with Ordinary Angels.

The first person we see in Ordinary Angels fits well with the title as society tends to think of infants as heavenly creatures.  This is Michelle Schmitt (Emily Mitchell) as a baby, and her parents, Ed (Alan Ritchson) and Theresa Schmitt (Amy Acker) could not be happier.  This is to be short lived as the next scene is a time jump of five years, and Theresa is about to die.  To make matters worse, little Michelle is suffering from a rare liver disease and the prognosis is not good.  Meanwhile, on the other side of Louisville is Sharon Stevens (Hilary Swank).  She is out drinking (plainly getting drunk, more like) with her friend and co-worker, Rose (Tamala Jones).  Rose is the responsible one, getting the out-of-control Sharon home when she cannot do so on her own.  The next morning, while having some vodka with her orange juice, Rose voices her concerns to Sharon.  More accurately, Rose insists on taking Sharon to an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting unbeknownst to Sharon.  Upon getting away from this uncomfortable setting, she is back at a convenience store buying more booze when she sees a newspaper discussing the tragedy of the Schmitt family.  Something about seeing Michelle’s face touches Sharon, and she goes to the funeral taking place nearby.  Proceeding the service, Sharon has the opportunity to meet Michelle, and the little girl’s older sister Ashley Schmitt (Skywalker Hughes).  Sharon also has an encounter with Ed, who is wondering who this strange woman at their function could be.  From this, Sharon makes up her mind that she is going to help the Schmitts.  Her first move is to have a “haircut-a-thon,” which makes sense since she is a stylist with her own salon.  This comes as the town is recovering from a major storm that saw tornadoes rip apart many houses.  In the middle of it, Ed is forced to rush Michelle to the hospital when she displays major symptoms of her condition.  More visits to the doctor means more money Ed has to pay, cash which he does not have.  He also does possess health insurance.  Thus, when it is time to check out of the hospital, he is unable to pay the bill.  This has the consequence of having to choose between paying for certain foods and which to go without.  In the middle of this mounting crisis, Sharon appears at their door with an envelope of cash.  It does not cover all their expenses, but it is a start.  Further, Sharon is only getting started.  Letting herself inside, she sits down with Ed and begins going over all his accounts, current and past-due, in order to try and come up with a plan to deal with them.  He is not the kind of guy to readily accept charity, but for the moment her contributions are cautiously welcomed.  She also ingratiates herself with his daughters, which is appreciated by his mother, Barbara Schmitt (Nancy Travis), who has filled some of the void left by Theresa’s passing.  For Barbara, any help is welcome.  From here, Sharon continues to pour her heart and soul into helping the Schmitts, including getting Ed extra construction work in the wake of the storm.  It culminates with her going to the hospital and convincing them to completely wipe away the hundreds of thousands of dollars the Schmitts owe.  Yet, Sharon is not without her own issues.  Though she emptied all her liquor bottles when she became involved with her charity work, her relationship with her estranged son Derek (Dempsey Bryk) leads her to once more turn to booze.  Thus, with Michelle’s health worsening, Sharon ends up getting inebriated while watching the girls and passing out in the back yard.  Ed finds her there and tells her that she is no longer welcome in his house.  Sharon leaves, but finally admits that she has a problem and begins voluntarily going to AA meetings.  Meanwhile, Ed gets the news which he had been fervently hoping would come: there is a liver available for Michelle in Omaha, Nebraska.  Unfortunately, Louisville is also in the middle of being hit by one of the worst blizzards in decades.  Roads all over are closed, and for medical reasons they have six hours to make it to Middle America.  Despite their differences, Ed turns to Sharon for help, and she immediately responds by figuring out a route to get to the airport through the foul weather.  When that road becomes blocked, too, he is forced to try a logging road.  That proves unpassable, too.  Sharon, with Rose’s help, comes up with the idea of getting a helicopter to transport Ed and Michelle to the airport.  With the rest of the community lending a hand, they find a way to land the vehicle, and Michelle is saved.

The fact that Michelle is saved is a miracle, and this is the forte of the studio behind Ordinary Angels.  They are apparently also associated with The Chosen (2017-present), which stars America’s second favorite Catholic, Jonathan Roumie.  I say “second favorite” because Mark Wahlberg would arguably be the first, if not the most well-known.  Still, these movies, including Ordinary Angels, are not Catholic.  I would not even call them overtly Christian.  They are about people who are Christian, but I would not refer to them as “Bible thumpers,” as the devout are sometimes accused of being.  I am not sure what is wrong with being into such things, but I get the connotation, unfortunately.  What films of this ilk show is that Christians are just like the rest of us in many ways.  What separates them is the fact that they acknowledge something bigger than themselves, which is a theme in the movie.  Ed tends to think of himself as being alone, especially in light of Theresa’s death.  This is why he is hesitant to accept Sharon’s assistance, but more deeply, why he is closed off from God.  At a few moments, we see him asking God what he had done to deserve what he believes to be divine misfortune.  Who among us, particularly those of us who call ourselves Christian, have not had similar experiences of crying to God in a moment of despair “Why?!”  At the same time, this is not about Faith.  Miracles do occur, but if the story was focused on religion, there would be a character arc that includes a deepening of their relationship with God.  I cannot say this happens.  I guess this is why critics gave this one largely favorable reviews aside from a specifically Christian viewer like myself.

All the same, it is a practicing Catholic giving you a review of Ordinary Angels, and there are so many inflection points by which to reveal God’s presence.  God is good because He works in situations like this one.  Further, He spoke to me through this movie.  For Lent, I decided to begin Father Mike Schmitz’s Catechism in a Year podcasts.  I would say “ironically enough” but such things seem silly when one earnestly seeks a relationship with God, yet I am listening to them on the Hallow app.  This new Catholic media is one championed by Jonathan Roumie and Mark Walhberg.  Such instances point to something the film does well, and that is highlighting how there is really no such thing as a coincidence.  When we think they happen, they are what we Christians would call God moments.  I say this even if they may have a negative connotation.  Another way they are described, one that society seems better able to accept, is that “everything happens for a reason.”  We say that especially when we do not have the answers we so desperately want.  Why does my wife die, or my youngest child develop a deadly disease?  Why will my son no longer talk to me, or I drink every night in order to mask the pain?  Why, when my daughter is so close to getting that which she needs to live, is there suddenly a massive blizzard?  When the chaos is swirling around us, in our more sober moments we say to ourselves that “everything happens for a reason.”  This is good, but it is not the whole truth.  There is somebody who knows why everything happens, and that is God, of course.  Not only does He have the answer that may be frustratingly out of reach, but has been through it all Himself.  If you saw the Super Bowl ads, perhaps you might remember the Christian ones that talked about how He gets us.  He does.  It was His will that Michelle be saved.  There is no other way of putting it.  Further, there is really nothing else that needs to be said about it.  It is also all we need to know about it, too.

The question I came away from Ordinary Angels with is: what is one life worth?  Luckily, Faith, particularly Catholicism, has given us an answer to this question.  One life is worth everything.  Nobody at any stage is worth giving up on, though we also need to be able to accept loss, too.  Finally, we should be open to helping that one life