Stars : Hilary Swank & Alan Ritchson
Watch on : Netflix
If despite years of movie binging, a film can warm the cockles of the heart in a story of compassion, goodness & unconditional service to humanity, then its gotta be a mighty fine one. As the quiet evening yesterday had rains descending in a downpour, we saw in the beautifully moving film ‘Ordinary Angels’, an outpouring of warm emotions too. For those who seek ‘feel-good’ movies that are heart-wrenching, this is the one !
The story in ‘Ordinary Angels’ centres on a struggling hairdresser Sharon who finds a new sense of purpose after reading about a tragic story in a Kentucky newspaper. Ed, played by Alan Ritchson, is a recently widowed father of two daughters – one of whom is waiting for an organ transplant. Sharon a mid-aged alcoholic and who’s life is adrift after a failed marriage and being estranged from her young son, lives aimlessly till she makes her life’s mission to help the hard working father Ed, the small time builder, with his mounting medical bill and financial problems so that he’s able to save his daughter.
It’s an inspirational tale of a devoted father who’s lost his young wife and is struggling alone to find means for the medical treatment of his little girl and like a ‘angel’ Sharon barges into his family life and starts sorting things out for them one by one, putting aside her own professional commitments like a crusader, which confuses Ed at first. In a selfish world who gives up anything for others – he finds Sharon’s continuing presence and help difficult to accept but Sharon explains her life too is getting changed with this ! The last 20 mts thrill & uplift –it’s an indomitable show of human spirit of compassion.
The film is based on real events that occurred in Kentucky in the early 1990s that saw a local hairdresser step in and launch fundraisers to help the family with their medical debt and finally organise the child’s journey via private plane whenever a donated liver became available. Locally named the “snow baby”, Michelle Schmitt and her father were helped by a stranger, Sharon Stevens and their community, to get from Louisville to Nebraska for an organ transplant during a historic snowstorm.
As for the main actors, Hilary Swank as Sharon is awesome in a role different from her rave performances as Brandon Teena in Kimberly Peirce‘s Boys Don’t Cry (1999) and as Maggie Fitzgerald in Clint Eastwood‘s Million Dollar Baby (2004). Both performances earned her widespread critical acclaim & two Academy Awards for Best Actress. As Ed, Ritchson battles all the way & is very impressive and understated as a wonderful Dad !
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