‘Ordinary Angels’ (2024): A Community in Action

This installment of ‘Movies for Teens and Young Adults’ asks, then answers: How much is a single life worth?
‘Ordinary Angels’ (2024): A Community in Action
Sharon (Hillary Swank) brings the community together to save Michelle (Emily Mitchell), in "Ordinary Angels." Lionsgate
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Director Jon Gunn’s biopic draws on the 1990s true story of hairdresser Sharon Stevens from Louisville, Kentucky. In the film, Stevens crowdsources help for widower Ed Schmitt, struggling to raise his daughters, Ashley and Michelle, after his wife Theresa’s premature death from a terminal illness. Stevens helps 5-year-old Michelle, who, without a timely 600-mile airlift to Omaha for a liver transplant amid a catastrophic snowstorm, wouldn’t have gone on to live a fulfilled life for nearly three decades.
Click here for plot summary, cast, reviews, and ratings for “Ordinary Angels.” Stevens’s story also features in her book of the same title.
The heart of this film is that brokenness isn’t good, but can open the door to much goodness. Gunn and Stevens are clear about a few things. First, it’s a miracle when that door opens. Second, it’s goodness that opens it; Stevens and Gunn personify that through their word “angels.” Third, goodness can, and must, be taught. Finally, those best placed to inculcate goodness are from “ordinary” sources: families, friends, churches, and schools.

A Gift From God

Gunn’s film asks thoughtful questions. He opens with an extreme close-up of Ed gazing at his newborn, while a sickly but smiling Theresa names their baby Michelle, or “gift from God.” It’s as if Gunn’s asking: What is one life worth? Here, the real-life community in Louisville answers by the mountains they move to save one life.
Michelle (Emily Mitchell) is comforted by her father Ed (Alan Ritchson), in "Ordinary Angels." (Lionsgate)
Michelle (Emily Mitchell) is comforted by her father Ed (Alan Ritchson), in "Ordinary Angels." Lionsgate

But, Gunn insists, new lives aren’t like snowflakes, dropping out of the sky. First, two adults, otherwise strangers, must lovingly commit to each other and to having and raising children. Before they unite as one, each is an individual: separate, distinct, exploring where and how to find meaning and purpose. Their reason dictates self-preservation and the status quo for them as single adults. It’s love and faith that nudges them to bravely step forward, taking the risks that marriage and family demand.

In the film, Stevens is estranged from her husband and adult son, partly because she turned alcoholic as a ruse to escape her suffering. She couldn’t put the energy into those relationships when and where she needed to. It’s why she admires the energy Ed has poured into his family, as a hardworking husband and father.

Gunn’s saying that, far from triggering self-pity at our fate, or contempt for those less fortunate, our human frailty must draw us to each other. An Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that Stevens goes to echoes that, urging her to find a reason to live that’s bigger than her and her problems.

But for all her kindness to them, Ed won’t tolerate displays of her addictions around his impressionable daughters whom he loves deeply; it’s why he’s prepared to risk being disliked by them if his discipline helps make them better adults. If Stevens turns off her tap of kindness, so be it.

To Gunn, single parenthood is not only sad, but undesirable. Through no fault of his, Ed’s life is incomplete without Theresa. Stevens is partly to blame for how broken she feels without her husband. Instead of pointing fingers, Gunn points to how fragile a family can be, and how treasured it must be.

Michelle (Emily Mitchell) suffers from a terminal disease, in "Ordinary Angels." (Lionsgate)
Michelle (Emily Mitchell) suffers from a terminal disease, in "Ordinary Angels." Lionsgate

Media in Action

Gunn asks other questions, too. Is the media meant to merely entertain? Or does it also have a more traditional mandate: to inform, to educate, and to influence as a force for good? Yes, tell the truth, but whose truth? To what end? It may be a seemingly trivial newspaper article that starts Stevens’s journey of selflessness. But she ends up spurring TV and radio stations to similar action, leveraging their incredible reach to fulfill her mission.

The writer, whose article inspired Stevens, chose to spotlight the plight of one life among many events in Louisville, figuring that even one life deserves an entire city’s attention. The writer had faith in public goodness, and hoped that his article would inspire at least one person to act, even if others merely thought good thoughts or felt warm, fuzzy feelings.

In an interview, Gunn has said, “Helping others is how we heal ourselves.” Alan Ritchson, who stars as Ed, said in Today, “We … need to be reminded of the power of what we can do together.” But the film drives home its lesson about the power of many from a more foundational lesson about the power of one: one life, one angel. There wouldn’t be any, let alone, many “angels” without one angel first.
Poster for "Ordinary Angels." (Lionsgate)
Poster for "Ordinary Angels." Lionsgate
These reflective articles may interest parents, caretakers, or educators of teenagers and young adults, seeking great movies to watch together or recommend. They’re about films that, when viewed thoughtfully, nudge young people to be better versions of themselves.
You can watch “Ordinary Angels” on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, and Vudu.
What arts and culture topics would you like us to cover? Please email ideas or feedback to [email protected]
Rudolph Lambert Fernandez
Rudolph Lambert Fernandez
Author
Rudolph Lambert Fernandez is an independent writer who writes on pop culture.
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