A shot at redemption

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NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, October 9th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Angel Studios and Hollywood star Zachary Levi are teaming up for a remake of a classic 1947 John Wayne Western.

Here’s WORLD film reviewer Joseph Holmes.

JOSEPH HOLMES: Westerns have long gone hand-in-hand with stories about faith. Both, with faithful believers ever-present and themes of sin and redemption. So it’s no surprise when Christians or those courting faith-based audiences dip their toes in the genre. The latest example is Angel and the Badman. It’s a movie with no real surprises for fans of Westerns, but one that might scratch the itch for those looking for an enjoyable redemption story.

QUIRT: Who are you? And where am I?

PENNY: I’m Penny, um, Penelope. You’ve been asleep for a week. You almost died.

QUIRT: I suppose that makes you my lucky penny.

Angel and the Badman is a remake of the 1947 film starring John Wayne. In it a wounded outlaw named Quirt on the run from both the law and rival criminals is taken in by a local Christian family. The outlaw falls in love with the daughter and warms to the family’s kind ways. But he has to decide if he can protect them better by staying or leaving.

The film hits all the beats you would expect from a story like this and does so enjoyably. It’s fun to watch the outlaw with a heart of gold find redemption and love with a good family. Christian families will be happy with how the family lives out their faith in sincere ways that are validated throughout the story. The cast is also solid and a reminder of how good Angel Studios is getting at putting out movies that attract real talent. Zachary Levi is charming as Quirt. Tommy Lee Jones has an easy, wholesome gravitas as the sheriff. Neal McDonough is reliably good as the bad guy.

MARSHALL: I don’t know what you’re up to playing house with these good people. Best thing you can do is ride off because sooner or later they will regret the day they ever met you.

This version of the story mostly sticks to the same characters and beats as the original film, but the changes it does make are a mixed bag. In the original film the family are Quakers. So rejecting violence wholesale is a strong part of Quirt’s redemption, even as Quirt’s and the sheriff’s capacity for violence is necessary to save everyone from the bad guys. The new version makes the family just Christians, bypassing that interesting tension. The upshot is Quirt’s arc is less clear and the emotional payoff less satisfying.

You also see this with the changes they made to the church scene. In the original, the teaching is on the ethics of Jesus. Quirt is confronted with the fact that he’s not living up to the ethics of his new community. In the new version, the sermon is on accepting God’s grace, and Quirt walks out, feeling guilt over his own sin. The problem is we never see Quirt struggling with that guilt anywhere else. Forgiveness of sins wasn’t a big theme in the original, and the new movie doesn’t change enough elsewhere to make it a consistent theme here.

PENNY: I suppose you think it was your gun who changed his heart?

QUIRT: Honey, I haven’t used my gun in days. You ought to have more faith in people.

There’s nothing in this film that really makes it distinctive. The characters repeatedly tell you exactly who they are and what they want and feel without subtlety. The original film, although clearly of its time, leaned into telling its story with style.

OUTLAW: I’m looking for someone.

MADAM: A lot of fellas come through here. You’re going to have to be more specific.

OUTLAW: This one has a bullet in him. And our gold. His name is Quirt Evans.

There are some scenes of PG-13 violence that you’d expect in a Western. But very little of it is graphic. People get shot but typically from a distance with little blood. We first meet Quirt nursing a wound in his side, evident by a blood stain on his shirt. The villain at the end gets a stake through his shoulder, but we only see before and after. This makes it a tad more violent than the original film, which was totally bloodless.

MOTHER: Marshall, will you be joining us for church?

MARSHALL: Church?

QUIRT: That’s right.

Angel and the Badman is enjoyable for families or fans of Western-genre redemption arcs. For those who simply want to return to that well, this film will more than suffice. But given that the original is better and more family-friendly, many might decide to revisit that one instead.

I’m Joseph Holmes.

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