"Why would a loving God let my daughter suffer the way she has?"
Christy Beam (Jennifer Garner) has it all. She's got a great family and a great life. One day, her middle daughter Annabel (Kylie Rogers) starts throwing up and experiences sharp pains in her stomach. Christy and her husband Kevin (Martin Henderson) keep seeing doctor after doctor, who think the condition to related to acid reflux or an allergy to lactose. One doctor finally gets to the bottom of the problem, diagnosing Annabel with a rare gastro-intestinal disease. Christy immediately seeks out help, even if that means flying to Boston's critically-acclaimed Children's Hospital without an appointment to try and get her daughter the help she needs.
Garner gives the performance of her career here. We've seen her play a convincing mom before in the Disney movies The Odd Life of Timothy Green and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, but in this film, she's allowed to give more emotional gravitas. Many times, Garner is incredibly convincing and raw as a mother struggling to keep her faith in the midst of this hard time. Rogers is just as convincing as Annabel. She convincingly pulls off her scenes with expertise. You sympathize and nearly tear up in the midst of her pain and suffering.
The other actors are solid too. I do have to give a shout-out to Eugenio Derbez, who pulls off a tricky balancing act between being a fun doctor for the kids and someone who can play it really serious. Also, Queen Latifah has a couple of very funny scenes. She brings a great sense of humor to the moments she's in. Henderson and Brighton Sharbino are solid as the husband and oldest daughter Abby. John Carroll Lynch is a humorous and effective pastor.
The editing and cinematography are very good. A few looks at the southern countryside are beautiful. I also liked before the credits when the real Beam family was showcased. It was shown differently and in a more light-hearted and appealing way than what you might would expect from a true story-based film. Third Day makes a couple of cameos in the film with a couple of songs (one that might be familiar to fans and one that's new). The script by Randy Brown is a little slow-paced, but it nicely balances the emotionally sad moments with some strong moments of humor.
One other strong point of the film is that Annabel's view of Heaven is short and the film doesn't hang around after that event either. The film puts more on a courageous little girl's journey through her illness and her Mom's battle with her faith than anything else. The film ends with a very inspiring and emotional speech by Christy. The film makes the repeated importance of prayer, trusting and relying God in the midst of life's troubles. And, in one other scene, the film subtly points out how churches all have members that offend people. But, loving others is always encouraged regardless.
Finally, the movie shows a "behind-the-scene" style flashback showing how God worked small "miracles" in the midst of all the trouble Anna and Christy went through. These mini-scenes at the end of the film were all extremely effective.
On the downside, there's very little. The film does take its time to get to Anna's "miracle", and the road to get to that point isn't always easy. Some scenes, in that case, may prove to be a little upsetting for younger children. Finally, Latifah is somewhat cut short of screentime in this movie. She's great in the scenes she's given, but as we got towards the end of Anna's story, I was wondering where she went.
In 2014, Sony found huge success for the fantastic adaptation of Heaven is for Real. So, it would make logical sense to bring another story like this to the big screen right? But Miracles from Heaven, as I mentioned before, is much more a retelling of a girl's miraculous healing and a mom's battle of her faith than it is about a person's near-death experience.
Based on a true story, Miracles is just as emotionally-convincing and well-done as Heaven is for Real. Production-wise, there's a lot to applaud. Director Patricia Riggen examines the topics of a family's personal and spiritual struggles with a surprising amount of depth. And, it is this type of movie where Jennifer Garner is given freedom to really dig deep. She's absolutely fantastic (kudos to her for accepting this role coming off of her divorce with Ben Affleck), and there's no slouch in the remainder of the cast.
The film is also very strong in its depiction of the Christian faith and how important it is to the Beams. In a very moving scene, Anna witnesses to another very ill young girl, giving her a cross necklace and saying "Jesus is with you". This also eventually shows to have a profound effect on that girl's father. I always love seeing children being witnesses for the Gospel, as they can be more fearless and effective at spreading the Word than many adults seem to be nowadays.
In the end, I thought this was even better than what I was expecting. I might have actually enjoyed this more than Heaven is for Real. With a gripping story, outstanding performances and a thoughtful direction and screenplay, Miracles from Heaven is another fantastic stride in Christian filmmaking, and one of the most impressive Christian films I've seen to date.
Score: 9.6/10
Content Problems Families Should Be Aware Of:
Language: "Oh my g--!" is interjected four or five times in complete shock to Anna's incident at the tree. 6-year old Addelyn, wishing she could be older than her two siblings, retorts, "being six sucks!".
Adult Content: Kevin and Christy kiss. A few low-cut outfits are seen from time to time. Kevin is seen shirtless once.
Violence: Anna falls three stories down a tree trunk, where she apparently passes out. She's rescued with bloody scrapes over her face and body. Someone sticks a tube into Anna's nose twice through into her stomach, and we hear her scream in pain as a result. She eventually says "I want to die".
Drugs/Alcohol: None that I remembered.
Other: Christy is confronted by a few congregation members who accuse her and Kevin of secret sin in their lives, saying it is the reason why Anna hasn't been healed. A few others accuse Christy of making up the whole story at the end of the film. Anna vomits.
