Resurrected ‘Angel’ isn’t bad, just bland
The Word is mightier than the gun in the latest remake of the John Wayne parable “Angel and the Badman.” But the sanctity of the text falls short of salvation for this Angel Studios adaptation of James Edward Grant’s 1947 original about a devout Christian woman “saving” a notorious outlaw from a bullet … and himself.
It certainly doesn’t measure up to the Oscar-winning script(ure) that blessed “Witness,” the most successful incarnation of Grant’s time-honored tale of good triumphing over evil. Some of the alterations made here by a trio of writers are praiseworthy, particularly their tactic of portraying all adult members of the God-fearing Worth clan as strong, undaunted women capable of running a ranch as well as whipping up a mean doughnut.
But like those scrumptious deep-fried treats, the rest of this doughy Western is chock full of holes. The most glaring is the bland Zachary Levi as Quirt Evans, the dude Grant described as the guy who “shuts a lot of men’s eyes and opens a lot of women’s.”
I wager none of them googily-eyed gals were as virtuous as the pure-as-snow Penelope Worth (Meg Fraser), a lovely lass who earnestly tells Quirt she believes all births are virginal. She’s being facetious, of course, or at least I hope she is. But the fact that it’s hard to infer that is indicative of a muddled, tone-deaf script further impaired by a woeful lack of chemistry between Fraser and Levi.
The latter is certainly no Harrison Ford, perfectly cast as the wayward sinner in “Witness.” Nor is Neal McDonough the equal of Josef Sommers as Ford’s ruthless adversary. Still, McDonough is a vast improvement over Harry Carey Jr.’s Laredo in the 1947 original. Likewise, Jean Louisa Kelly (“Mr. Holland’s Opus”) tops Irene Rich as the Bible-quoting mother of Penny and her precocious brother, Johnny (Barrett Ellis Luca), but Melissa Chambers outshines them all as the tribe’s spry, no-nonsense matriarch, Harriet.
More of the latter would have been preferable to all the macho posturing by a host of menfolk, including Laredo’s DEI henchmen, Tully (Maurice Greene) and Hondo (Jesús Carús). They’re here mostly to serve as Laredo’s silent wingmen until late in the picture, when they lay some hurt on the Worths and a seemingly overmatched lawman in Tommy Lee Jones’ weather-beaten Marshal McClintock.
Even if we’d not seen this story a half-dozen times before, including a 2009 made-for-TV rehash starring Lou Diamond Phillips as Quirt and Luke Perry as Laredo, you’d be hard-pressed to cite a twist or turn you didn’t see coming a mile away. That’s partly because director Julio Quintana and his posse of writers pay too much deference to Grant’s passe blueprint, which begins with a wounded, semiconscious Quirt opportunely falling off his horse in front of the Worths’ isolated homestead.
Nursed back to health by the attentive and highly smitten Penny (played by Gail Russell in the original and Kelly McGillis in “Witness”), Quirt’s sexual urges bring him closer to God. Because he knows it’s either Yahweh or the highway when it comes to getting under Penny’s petticoats.
Quirt’s inevitable conversion to Christianity is gradual, as resistance gives way to guilt and apprehension before achieving full-fledged born-again status. True, the religiosity is subtle, but not the laughably corny heroics Quirt is called upon to perform, first in settling a water dispute with the Worths’ bullying neighbor, and later on, as Laredo and his boys make one last attempt at reclaiming the gold they allege Quirt stole from them.
To no one’s surprise, it culminates in the traditional shootout, with the black hats ending up in Boot Hill, as the freshly minted white hat moseys off into the sunset as a domesticated simp. All owing to the unconditional love of a gorgeous, genial virgin. After a lifetime spent violating the 10 commandments, you wonder how long Quirt’s spiritual awakening will last. But I doubt a reversion is in the cards. Not when the most radiant of golden-haired angels so clearly had him at halo.
Movie review
Angel and the Badman
Rated: PG-13 for language, violence, bloody images, suggestive material
Cast: Zachary Levi, Tommy Lee Jones, Meg Fraser, Neal McDonough, Jean Louisa Kelly, Melissa Chambers and Barrett Ellis Luca
Director: Julio Quintana
Writers: Jamie Hernandez, Kevin M. Townsend and Christopher Tuffin
Runtime: 105 minutes
Where: In theaters Oct. 9
Grade: C
