'Ordinary Angels' review: Faith-based drama makes do-gooders of us all

An alcoholic becomes an obsessive do-gooder in "Ordinary Angels," an uplifting if by-the-book faith-based drama about human connectiveness and the power of community.

Two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank stars as Sharon Stevens, the type of boot-scootin' good time party gal who'll jump up on the bar at the local honky tonk and dance to her favorite country hits. And so what if she falls to the ground? When she jumps up and yells "I'm fine!" the whole bar raises a toast and everyone keeps having a good time.

But Sharon's good times come to an end when her friend Rose (Tamala Jones) drops her off at an AA meeting. At first, Sharon resists admitting she has a problem, but she then finds a noble cause toward which she can direct her busybody energy and newfound free time now that she's not drinking: a local widower and father, Ed Schmitt ("Reacher's" Alan Ritchson), has a 5-year-old daughter (Emily Mitchell) who needs a liver transplant. She pays him and his family a visit out of the kindness of her heart and finds they're drowning in debt, and she decides to help them out.

At first, Ed is skeptical of this stranger's goodwill: just who is Sharon, and what is she getting out of this arrangement? But it's a truly no-strings-attached act of kindness, and helping out Ed and his family gives Sharon the sense of purpose she had been missing in her life, through her haze of drinking and her strained relationship to her estranged son (Dempsey Bryk).

"Ordinary Angels" director Jon Gunn, screenwriter of last year's "Jesus Revolution," puts a soft glow around everything in the film, and he tidies up any loose ends with a warm hug and a smile. The script by Meg Tilly and "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig doesn't exactly explain how Sharon is able to erase a $400,000 hospital bill through the power of persuasion, but the important thing to know is this is the kind of movie that believes that sort of thing is possible, and wants you to believe, too.

The film is based on a true story that happened in Kentucky in 1994, involving a community banding together and pulling off something approximating a miracle. No magic tricks, no ulterior motives, just the strength of people working together toward a common goal. It doesn't always happen like that, but "Ordinary Angels" is a gentle reminder that it sure is nice when it does.

agraham@detroitnews.com

'Ordinary Angels'

GRADE: B-

Rated PG: for thematic content, brief bloody images and smoking

Running time: 117 minutes

In theaters