Zachary Levi Takes On John Wayne Role in 'Angel and the Badman' — SkimNews
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- Angel Studios released its third adaptation of the 1947 John Wayne western "Angel and the Badman," directed by Julio Quintana and starring Zachary Levi as reformed gunman Quirt Evans, set in New Mexico.
- Tommy Lee Jones, 80, takes the wily U.S. Marshall role originated by Harry Carey and is singled out as the film's highlight, with the review noting his higher voice still delivers witty payoffs on weak dialogue.
- The 1947 original, John Wayne's self-financed debut as producer and star from Republic Pictures, was written by James Edward Grant (who went on to write 11 more Wayne films) and remains "the most compelling" of the three versions, the review says.
- The 2009 Hallmark Channel iteration, starring Lou Diamond Phillips and Deborah Kara Unger and shot in wintry British Columbia, was the second adaptation before the current New Mexico-set remake.
- The remake trades the 1947 film's Quaker faith for "all-purpose Christian belief," aligning with Angel's stated mission of "values-based" stories that "amplify light and bring more goodness into the world."
- Levi's performance is described as tonally inconsistent, landing somewhere between Jason Sudeikis and Ted Lasso rather than a "dimensional dark angel," with anachronistic wisecracks like "Sorry I'm late!" undercutting the dramatic beats.
- The review criticizes the production's visual flatness — belt buckles and signage look freshly made — and laments the loss of the 1947 version's "very little piety" and the real chemistry between Wayne and Gail Russell.
Why it matters: Angel Studios built its distribution model on "values-based" stories, and this third crack at a 78-year-old Wayne property tests whether that brand can retrofit a classic Western for modern faith audiences — the critic's verdict is that the sanctimony and tonal incoherence, not the 1947 film's restraint, are what get lost in translation, with Jones's 80-year-old supporting turn carrying a film that otherwise can't match the chemistry of the original.
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