Looking at the credits, this is not an ABC after school special. This is a film with a good cast and a very good writer/director. Randall Wallace is the Oscar nominated and WGA winner for Braveheart. So he has credentials. Then you have a solid cast with Greg Kinnear, Eden Lake's Kelly Reilly and Thomas Haden Church. They put some money into this production and it pays off handsomely.
I'm not an atheist, I'm not agnostic and I'm not a believer. That leaves me in a very precarious place. I frankly don't know what I believe so my enjoyment of this film has nothing to do with fanaticism or devout belief. This is coming strictly from a film point of view. And this one moved me more than any film I can think of in recent memory.
You know the story so I won't give you all the mundane details but a quick recap is that during surgery, young Colton Burpo claims he went to heaven and met Jesus. He claims that he met a grandfather who died before he was born, that he got hugged from his miscarried sister and that angels sang to him. His father, Todd, played beautifully by Greg Kinnear, is the local pastor and strangely enough when people start to hear of this story, he and his family are ridiculed and made fun of. And this struck me as odd. You have a town full of Christians who go to church every day and believe in Jesus and his word but as soon as someone, a four year-old no less, says that he has met Jesus and spoke to him, they tell him that he's lying and that it's not possible. This, to me, is the very definition of hypocrisy.
The end of the story has Pastor Todd giving a sermon that left a lot of theater sniffling, blowing their nose and claiming they had something in their eye, including me. It's a powerful film about belief and conviction and love. And in my opinion, it doesn't matter if you believe in the Bible and all that it stands for, it only matters if you believe that you can make a difference in someone's life just by being kind and then having that kindness reciprocated. This was the central theme in the film. People were sometimes alone and afraid but the values of the Burpo family dictated that they come to the need of friends and strangers. There's an incredibly moving scene where Colton goes into the room of a very young boy with cancer. It's implied that the young boy will probably die soon. Colton puts his hand on the boy's hand and says, "No one is ever going to hurt you." In that moment the boy knew he wasn't alone and perhaps this would give him strength to get through his final days.
The entire film is sprinkled with moments of passionate, spiritual sentiment. These are good people in the Burpo family and they are going through a rough time. There is nothing in the film that suggests that there was any kind of agenda. I didn't feel like I walked out with a headache from getting bashed over the head with a message. I just felt very moved and very satisfied with the story.
I did find it funny that Sony produced this and in the film, Colton has a very real affinity for Spider-man. He holds a figuring of Spidey and his walls were littered with Spider-man memorabilia. Even Thomas Haden Church has a Spider-man connection. So I got the little nudges the film had towards it's big picture coming out this summer.
Overall a very satisfying film and one that you should give a chance to.
9/10
I'm not an atheist, I'm not agnostic and I'm not a believer. That leaves me in a very precarious place. I frankly don't know what I believe so my enjoyment of this film has nothing to do with fanaticism or devout belief. This is coming strictly from a film point of view. And this one moved me more than any film I can think of in recent memory.
You know the story so I won't give you all the mundane details but a quick recap is that during surgery, young Colton Burpo claims he went to heaven and met Jesus. He claims that he met a grandfather who died before he was born, that he got hugged from his miscarried sister and that angels sang to him. His father, Todd, played beautifully by Greg Kinnear, is the local pastor and strangely enough when people start to hear of this story, he and his family are ridiculed and made fun of. And this struck me as odd. You have a town full of Christians who go to church every day and believe in Jesus and his word but as soon as someone, a four year-old no less, says that he has met Jesus and spoke to him, they tell him that he's lying and that it's not possible. This, to me, is the very definition of hypocrisy.
The end of the story has Pastor Todd giving a sermon that left a lot of theater sniffling, blowing their nose and claiming they had something in their eye, including me. It's a powerful film about belief and conviction and love. And in my opinion, it doesn't matter if you believe in the Bible and all that it stands for, it only matters if you believe that you can make a difference in someone's life just by being kind and then having that kindness reciprocated. This was the central theme in the film. People were sometimes alone and afraid but the values of the Burpo family dictated that they come to the need of friends and strangers. There's an incredibly moving scene where Colton goes into the room of a very young boy with cancer. It's implied that the young boy will probably die soon. Colton puts his hand on the boy's hand and says, "No one is ever going to hurt you." In that moment the boy knew he wasn't alone and perhaps this would give him strength to get through his final days.
The entire film is sprinkled with moments of passionate, spiritual sentiment. These are good people in the Burpo family and they are going through a rough time. There is nothing in the film that suggests that there was any kind of agenda. I didn't feel like I walked out with a headache from getting bashed over the head with a message. I just felt very moved and very satisfied with the story.
I did find it funny that Sony produced this and in the film, Colton has a very real affinity for Spider-man. He holds a figuring of Spidey and his walls were littered with Spider-man memorabilia. Even Thomas Haden Church has a Spider-man connection. So I got the little nudges the film had towards it's big picture coming out this summer.
Overall a very satisfying film and one that you should give a chance to.
9/10