‘Ordinary Angels,’ starring Hilary Swank, Alan Ritchson, tells a Louisville story. Here's how to watch

"Ordinary Angels," based on a true story that happened in Louisville during the snowstorm of 1994, is set to hit movie theaters nationwide in February.

Watching a feature film about a real event, like "King Richard," "tick, tick...Boom!" or "Catch Me If You Can," can be immensely satisfying. A movie based on a true story that happened in your hometown is even better. Meeting the actual people the movie is written about is the cherry on top.

For Louisvillians, a movie that fits all these criteria is "Ordinary Angels," starring Academy Award winner Hilary Swank and actor Alan Ritchson ("Reacher"). The film is based on a memoir of the same name written by Louisville's Sharon Stevens Evans.

A single mother and hairstylist living in Louisville in the early 1990s, Evans read a newspaper story in the Courier Journal that inspired her to move mountains to help a family living in the Buechel neighborhood with a critically ill little girl.

Courier Journal columnist Jim Adam's story, "Louisville family is bearing up under crushing burden of crisis," explained the local family's triple tragedy.

Ed Schmitt had recently lost his 29-year-old wife to a respiratory illness and was now trying to raise two girls, both under age 5. The girls suffered from a deadly liver condition called biliary atresia, a condition in infants in which the bile ducts outside and inside the liver are blocked, and required liver transplants to survive. Adding to the family's crisis were heaps of insurmountable medical bills.

Raising money to ease some of those bills was how Evans initially stepped in to support the Schmitt family. But it was activating the community of Louisville amid the 1994 historic snowstorm that would become her most heroic act.

On Jan. 16, 1994, Kentucky was being pummeled by ice, snow, and subzero temperatures. The storm brought Louisville to a standstill at the exact time a liver became available and a very sick 2 1/2-year-old Michelle Schmitt needed to be flown to Children's Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska.

Evans wrote "Ordinary Angels" about that experience. Her memoir was turned into a feature film that premiered recently in Louisville at Cinemark Tinseltown. It was there that we met Evans and members of the Schmitt family.

Here's what they said it feels like to have their life story turned into a book, and now a movie.

Actress Hilary Swank 'perfectly' captured Louisville woman's persona

"Ordinary Angels" was filmed in Winnipeg, Canada, and Evans was able to visit the set.

"Hilary [Swank] is an angel," Evans told the Courier Journal. "She played me to perfection. I am a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of a person and she captured that perfectly."

Additionally, Evans said the director and producers were willing to work with her to get her story right on the big screen.

"I wasn't shocked when they wanted to turn this book into a movie because it's an incredible story of unity," Evans said. "Louisville is my hometown and I am very very proud of it."

What it's like to be the focus of 'Ordinary Angels'

Although she was only 5 years old in 1994, Ashely Schmitt remembers the phone call that informed the family a liver was available for her little sister, Michelle. With only a few hours to get to Omaha, Nebraska, where the transplant would take place, the Schmitts turned to Evans.

"Obviously with 17 inches of snow, the city was shut down so my grandma called Sharon to figure out what we should do," Schmitt remembers. "Sharon started calling radio stations to rally the community because the Southeast Christian Church parking lot needed to be cleared for a helicopter to land and pick up my dad and Michelle to get to the airport and onto a private plane to take them to Omaha."

Schmitt, who is now 35 years old, received a liver transplant two years before her younger sister, Michelle. The sisters also required kidney transplants due to biliary atresia.

How 'Ordinary Angels' helps keep sister's memory alive

Michelle Schmitt Cobble died three years ago but survived for 30 years with a donated liver and kidney. Sister Ashely Schmitt said "Ordinary Angels" helps keep her sister's memory alive while also promoting the importance of organ donation and agencies such as Kentucky Organ Donation Affiliates.

"With Michelle passing away a couple of years ago, this movie will keep her memory alive," Schmitt said. "People who didn't know her story or the importance of organ donation will understand that now. That's not something everyone gets when a family member passes away and that's something my family feels is special."

When can I see 'Ordinary Angels' in theaters?

The film was originally scheduled to come out on Oct. 13; however, Taylor Swift's movie, "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" was set to release the same day. Numerous films, including "Ordinary Angels," shifted their release dates.

"Michelle and I were always big Taylor Swift fans, so I am not upset that she picked the same date as the release of our movie," Schmitt said. "We have pushed our release of 'Ordinary Angels' out to Feb. 23."

Reach features reporter Kirby Adams at kadams@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: ‘Ordinary Angels,’ based on Louisville residents stars Hilary Swank