We all have our own beliefs, and there’s not doubt that they come into play while viewing a film such as Heaven Is For Real, based off of the best selling book of the same title, written by Todd Burpo, a small town pastor whose son apparently visited heaven during a near death experience. Watching a film like this objectively can become difficult, no matter which side your standing on.
Todd’s (Greg Kinnear) faith comes into question after his four-year-old son Colton (Connor Corum) is rushed to the hospital with a ruptured appendix. Only it hits him square in the nose when Colton tells him some of the stuff he saw while he was asleep during the operation, such as a visit to heaven and interaction with angels and Jesus himself. Even as a pastor Todd has a hard time believing what his son is telling him, but when Colton tells him he saw images of Todd praying during the operation as well as vivid details of dead relatives he never met, Todd has no idea what to do, but to believe.
Todd and his wife Sonja (Kelly Reilly) struggle internally on how to handle the situation, but Todd sticks to his gut and shares Colton’s story with his congregation. You’d think that church-goers would love to hear such a story, but it only perplexes and angers the faithful attendees of Todd’s church, alienating Todd and the rest of the family from their community. All this comes at a bad time, as Todd struggles to pay the bills, leaving his world spinning all at once.
Director Randall Wallace adapted the book for the screen with co-writer Christopher Parker, and put the book’s questions well into motion for the audience. It’s a safe and predictable journey, with every plot point something that you’ve seen before, or saw coming a mile away. While it sports a surprisingly decent cast consisting of Kinnear, Reilley as well as Thomas Haden Church and Margo Martindale, it often feels like a made-for-tv Easter special, more saccharine than inspiring, although you can tell it means well.
It will please those who believe, and will surely inspire eye-rolling from the non-believers. As someone who sits somewhere in the middle of it all, it was a curious journey that felt rather middling from a religious and cinematic point of view. It’s a religious film that doesn’t inspire, and it didn’t make me question any beliefs. With that said, what was the point?
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