HILARY SWANK Gives Inspirational ‘Ordinary Angels’ Both the Heart and He t it Needs

At the end of Ordinary Angels, we’re given one of those now-see-how-it-really-happened moments with real footage mirroring the climax of the lm. That’s a really good thing.

Because otherwise, one might be tempted to think the Dlmmakers had dreamed up a story too sappy and inspirational to be true. But no, this tale of how one determined woman rallied her community to help save a dying young girl took place largely as it’s presented.

Despite the compelling source material, Ordinary Angels is one of those movies where you can predict developments with certainty. You know in your bones when the phone’s about to ring with a fateful call. You know when a character is Dnally going to lose patience, telegraphing the obligatory Moment of Con8ict. And you know when an alcoholic is going to relapse, even before the shot of the beers in the fridge.

Such predictability can be fatal for a Dlm, but Ordinary Angels, directed by Jon Gunn, has something crucial going for it — Hilary Swank. Not for nothing, we soon recall, has Swank won two Oscars. With her innate groundedness — even in big hair, fringed jacket, sparkly dress and pink heels — she can lend truth to most any scenario. She gives what could have been merely a pass-the -Kleenex weepie its heart, yes, but more importantly its heft.

First, though, we meet Ed, a Kentucky roofer (Alan Ritchson, solid and appealing). In 8ashback, Ed welcomes his second daughter at the hospital with his wife, and the loving couple name her Michelle. Flash forward Dve years, though, and Ed’s wife is dying of a congenital disease. A devastated Ed promises to take care of the girls.

Now we meet Sharon (Swank), a single hairdresser with an estranged son. She’s also what they call hard-living, which means we meet her at — where else? — a bar, where she dances on the counter and does shots and falls down and ends up a mascara-stained mess. Her wise friend Rose — there’s always a wise friend — forces her to an AA meeting, but Sharon still won’t call herself an alcoholic.

But she does hear some good advice at the meeting, where a man describes learning to “Dnd a reason to be here that’s bigger than you are.”

Like clockwork, Sharon sees an article in the local paper about a 5year-old girl — Ed’s daughter Michelle — whose mother has just died and who now needs a liver transplant. Sharon shows up at the funeral unannounced, then tells Rose back at the salon that she thinks her destiny is to Dnd the money for the transplant.