IR Film Review: ANGEL AND THE BADMAN [Angel]
Angel Studios is trying some interesting things with tone first with "Runner" and now "Angel And The Badman" trying to transform certain stereotype stories but with an undercurrent of faith or being good as a motif. Zachary Levi, who has had a curvy career lately, plays the lead here in Cort, a bad man who lives to steal though he seemingly makes some bad choices. Tommy Lee Jones, looking a bit more scraggly but just as crisp at times, gives an almost lighter performance with not just "read" lines. He seems to be acting with direction which gives a throughline that is intrinsically necessary though he is only in about a 1/3 of the movie. Neal McDonough also a good bad guy with his ability to use piercing eyes does well as Loredo though both his focus and his weakness are not explained…and yet they are the most interesting part of the film. One sequence in a brothel is narratively tricky but interesting because it doesn’t given reason and yet says so many things.
A later interlude at a house and what we notice about Loredo definitely provides motivation but is still not explained. The key relationship in the movie is Levi’s interaction with Penny (Amy Fraser) which is a push/pull/play filled with metaphor. In one scene, she is trying to break a stallion and an interesting bit of dialogue between them is very well written and yet filled with innuendo...yet it says so much while still staying in the gist of the improvement story the film wants to tell. The aspect it wants to say is that Cort is not a bad ma, he simply needs the right woman and family to steer him in the right direction. The family is all women (grandma, mom and daughter -- no men to speak of). There is also a young son (and brother to the twenty-something Penny) but he is mainly used for comic relief but it is also balanced in the idea of becoming a man. The context of this works throughout the film. It does this steadily at a succinct pace while not really creating set pieces. The desert that acts as the environment is barren but the key that film talks about is the need for second chances. It is a good enough metaphor but neither the drama or romance is encompassing enough yet still functional. 83%/B/B-
By Tim Wassberg
