Angel and the Badman

by Mike McGranaghan

Angel and the Badman is a remake of the 1947 Western that starred John Wayne. Taking over the role of gunfighter Quirt Evans is Zachary Levi, an actor who shares Wayne’s conservative values but lacks his onscreen presence. That proves detrimental to this Angel Studios release, which has a nice message about personal redemption through faith yet is so lethargic in its storytelling that you’re likely to find your attention wandering.

A wounded Evans is taken in by Irene Worth (Uncle Buck’s Jean Louisa Kelly) and tended to by her adult daughter Penny (Meg Fraser). He’s buried some stolen confederate gold, and a vicious criminal named Laredo (Neil McDonough) is willing to kill him to find it. Meanwhile, the local marshal, Boone McClintock (Tommy Lee Jones), is poking around, aware that Evans has not procured that gold by legal means.

Unlike many Westerns, Angel and the Badman is not a typical good-versus-evil tale. Instead, the dishonest Evans finds himself transformed by the generosity of the Worth family, who adhere to Christian values. Spending time around them, especially when they are so non-judgmental toward him, spurs the guy to reconsider his wicked ways. He even attends church. And when he finds out a nasty neighbor is hording all the water, he intervenes. Oddly, the film still ends with a violent gunfight.

The basic story is pleasant enough. Director Julio Quintana doesn’t make it exciting, though. There’s no dramatic thrust, despite several of the individual plot components offering opportunity for drama. It’s all staged in a bland manner, never making Evans’ transformation feel like anything other than a standard faith-based trope. The Evans/Penny romance is similarly devoid of heat.

It doesn’t help that Levi is kind of a black hole as an actor. He doesn’t play Evans as a particularly bad guy in the early scenes. Maybe he’s afraid of being unlikeable onscreen. Whatever the reason, the character’s eventual embrace of decency doesn’t carry much weight. McDonough is fine as Laredo, although he’s been cast as a villain countless times over the years. Nothing about his performance here feels different. As for Tommy Lee Jones, the marshal is basically an afterthought, given zero of note to do. Why cast the Oscar winner and then waste his talents?

I can’t honestly point to any specific thing in Angel and the Badman and call it awful. The movie is competently assembled, and the theme of self-improvement is admirable. Even so, the whole picture just sits there, failing to provide any sort of true emotional or intellectual stimulation. It's dull as dishwater.