Given its title, will it surprise anyone that 2024’s Ordinary Angels delivers a religious theme? Probably not, especially when one sees the Blu-ray case touts that it comes from the creators of 2023’s Jesus Revolution.

Set in 1993, hairdresser Sharon Stevens (Hilary Swank) resides in Kentucky and struggles to make ends meet. Her life takes a change when she meets Ed Schmitt (Alan Ritchson), a recent widower who confronts another literal life or death situation.

Ed’s five-year-old daughter Michelle (Emily Mitchell) desperately needs a liver transplant. Sharon decides to make this her mission so she launches a crusade to assist the Schmitt family.

Here’s the part of the review where I go “what happened to Hilary Swank?” After she won two Best Actress Oscars by 2005, she seemed destined to turn into an “A”-lister, but that never happened.

Perhaps Swank’s unconventional beauty impacted her success. However, if the not-dissimilar looking Julia Roberts could become a massive movie star, I don’t think Swank’s face should’ve turned into a big impediment.

Maybe Swank’s talents just didn’t fit the mold. I think Roberts wound up as a household name due to her charm and charisma, whereas Swank really seems more like an actor who works great in serious roles but can’t translate to the sorts of roles that’d likely earn her true star status.

In any case, Swank now seems stuck in smaller films like Angels. That doesn’t feel like the worst fate, but it remains a surprise that someone with two Oscars at the age of 30 now appears unable to land parts in more “major” flicks.

Does it seem snobby to state that films like Angels are “below” Swank’s talents? Perhaps, but I believe that, as the movie offers pretty standard inspirational flick fare without anything to rise above the crowd.

Swank appears to get that she should work in more ambitious flicks as well. She doesn’t quite “act down” to her trite role, but she never manages to give Sharon added dimensionality or personality.

All that said, I can’t blame Swank for her lack of much investment in her simplistic part. Everything about Angels feels so predictable and “by the numbers” that it never feels worth the effort to elevate it.

And it’s not just Swank who doesn’t break much of a sweat. A likable actor, Ritchson feels completely unmemorable as the struggling single dad, and no one else in the cast stands out as impactful either.

This becomes a particular issue because we know where Angels will go. If you worry it won’t wind up with a happy ending, then you need to get out more.

As such, Angels needs compelling characters to keep us involved. With a completely foreseeable narrative, the film requires other ways to work.

It doesn’t. Everything here follows an absurdly predictable path, as nary a beat deviates from a well-worn inspirational movie framework.

I do appreciate that Angels doesn’t beat us over the head with religious elements. We get some brief allusions but the filmmakers keep these themes more in the background, a choice that allows the movie to seem less like Christian propaganda.

Otherwise, Angels becomes a snore. It works overtime to manipulate the audience with melodrama but none of it succeeds.

Yes, Angels delivers a positive message. Unfortunately, it does so in such a trite manner that it flops.

Ordinary Angels appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became an appealing presentation.

Overall sharpness seemed solid. A couple of wide shots looked a smidgen soft, but those were the exception to the rule, as the majority of the flick was accurate and detailed.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I noticed no edge haloes. Source flaws were absent, as the movie looked consistently clean.

Angels gave us a palette that emphasized the usual teal and orange/amber. Within those parameters, the hues were positive.

Blacks seemed deep and dark, while shadows showed good smoothness and clarity. I felt happy with the transfer.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the Dolby Atmos soundtrack of Angels lacked much to stand out as memorable. I expected that, though, since I wouldn’t anticipate a wild experience from this sort of character drama.

The soundfield focused on the front spectrum, and music presented the most prominent element. The score showed good stereo imaging, and we got general ambience much of the time.

When the surrounds played a part, they usually added environmental reinforcement. Storms broadened horizons but otherwise, matters stayed subdued.

Audio quality was fine. Speech sounded distinctive and natural, without edginess or other issues.

Effects didn’t have much to do, but they were acceptable for what they offered. Music appeared full and rich. There wasn’t enough here to merit a grade above a “B“, though, so don’t expect a memorable soundtrack.

As we shift to extras, we get an audio commentary from director Jon Gunn and producers Jon Berg and Kevin Downes. All sit together for this running, screen-specific look at the real story and the movie's liberties, story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, music, effects, and related domains.

Despite some of the expected happy talk, the commentary mostly stays on track and covers an appealing array of topics. We get a solid look at the production.

Some featurettes follow, and Making Ordinary Angels lasts 11 minutes, 28 seconds. It brings notes from Downes, Gunn, executive producer Rick Baker, cinematographer Maya Bankovic, production designer Nazgol Goshtasbpour, and actors Hilary Swank, Alan Ritchson, Skywalker Hughes, Emily Mitchell, Drew Powell, Tamala Jones, and Nancy Travis.

“Making” covers the project’s development, story/characters, cast and performances, cinematography and visual design. A few minor insights emerge, but this mostly feels like fluff.

Inspiring the Ordinary goes for five minutes, 16 seconds. It involves Travis, Powell, Swank, Gunn, Baker, Ritchson, Downes and Jones.

This piece examines the movie’s inspirational message. It seems well-intended but not especially interesting.

With Finding Your Purpose, we get a six-minute, eight-second piece. Here we discover info from Swank, Gunn, Ritchson, Jones, Powell, Downes, Pastor Dave Stone, Kingdom Stories Company co-founder Jon Erwin,

“Purpose” discusses the ways regular people can help. Again, this feels like a positive message, but it never seems interesting.

It also leans harder on religion than the movie itself does, which could turn off some. Even if it doesn’t, “Purpose” just comes across as puffy and self-congratulatory.

Finally, You Are Not Alone runs six minutes, two seconds. It delivers remarks from Gunn, Ritchson, Downes, Erwin, Jones, Swank, and Stone.

We get a general overview of story/characters as well as the inspirational message. Expect another superficial reel.

Six Deleted Scenes occupy a total of seven minutes, 19 seconds. These tend to focus on Ed’s struggles, though we also find a little exposition related to Sharon’s quest. None feel especially necessary, especially since the movie already runs too long.

A second disc provides a DVD copy of Angels. It includes the same extras as the Blu-ray.

At its core, Ordinary Angels boasts an inspiring story. However, it doesn’t succeed as a feature film, mainly because it paints events and characters in such a trite light that it fails to engage. The Blu-ray comes with pretty positive picture and audio as well as a decent mix of bonus materials. Nothing memorable occurs from this standard issue movie.