Heralded as the moment when faith-based film-making gets gritty, this adaptation of Ashley Smith’s nonfiction book Unlikely Angel is a rather unremarkable account of redemption through crisis. Kate Mara plays Smith, the struggling addict held hostage by David Oyelowo’s murderous escapee Brian Nichols, with only a copy of Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life to give her strength. Committed performances from the two leads provide ballast, although the inevitable Oprah coda feels a little too much like a sales pitch.
