My review of “Heaven is for Real”

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:56 pm by Deacon Greg Kandra

My review of “Heaven is for Real” 2016-09-30T15:56:44-04:00 Deacon Greg Kandra

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Enjoying a rare day off following the Triduum marathon, I took my wife to see “Heaven is for Real” at a Monday matinee.

I’ll be honest with you: I wasn’t expecting much. The result could have been awful, a preachy mess. The fact that it isn’t—in fact, a lot of it is awfully satisfying—is a testament to the good taste and storytelling skills of Randall Wallace, the director who shepherded this best-selling book from the page to the screen. Wallace knows his way around big stories with inspirational themes; he wrote “Braveheart” and directed “We Were Soldiers” and “Secretariat.” He has given this true-life story of four-year-old Colton Burpo’s journey to heaven something remarkable: he’s made the implausible plausible, and transformed what might have been a treacly Lifetime melodrama into an altogether engaging and even inspiring tale of resilience, struggle, community and faith.

If the story is extraordinary, it becomes believable because of the ordinary—and that is the secret of the film’s success.

The first 45 minutes or so are devoted to the mundane episodes of family life. We meet Todd Burpo—contractor, volunteer firefighter and part-time Protestant minister in the unending flatness of Imperial, Nebraska—and get to know his wife and two small children and the town they call home. Wallace manages to keep all this real and interesting and believable, which makes Colton’s near-death experience after a bout with appendicitis all the more surprising and involving. The boy’s parents are as skeptical as anyone, and you see Todd wrestling with demons of doubt; at one point, he rails at God and can’t quite comprehend what has happened to his life. Also, the depiction of home life is one of cluttered hallways, sick children, unpaid bills, and the stress inherent in any marriage tied to church ministry. (Deacons and their families will find a lot that is very familiar here, I think.)

The movie is also very good at showing both the cohesion and tension that exist in a close-knit community. When Colton’s life is hanging in the balance, his mother picks up the phone and begins calling friends, family, neighbors, anyone—and the movie then shows the widening circle of prayer that embraces the Burpo family and the people in Todd’s congregation. It’s one of the most affecting moments in the movie—in part because, by this point, Wallace has made us really care for the Burpos. (It doesn’t hurt that Greg Kinnear and Kelly Reilly play the parents with a chemistry that carries just enough sizzle and snap. When a fire alarm interrupts an intimate moment, Todd tells his wife, “I have to go put out a fire. I’ll put out this one when I get back.”) Once people in the town get wind of Colton’s story, they’re incredulous, even cynical. That helps give the movie some much-needed grit.

When the movie clings to what is real and tangible and recognizable, it clicks; it’s when it journeys with little Colton to heaven that it runs off the rails.

Some things, I think, are best left to the imagination, and that includes cinematic renderings of Paradise, a place that here isn’t quite as inviting or beautiful as you might expect. It looks like a suburban backyard; evidently, they have a lot of gifted groundskeepers who take care of the grass. Jesus wears a nicely laundered kaftan. You don’t see his face (though you do hear his voice—which, for once, doesn’t have a British accent) and you do glimpse a rendering of the Son of God created by a girl in Lithuania who had an experience similar to Colton’s. The presence of singing, giggling angels, depicted as gauzy winged creatures fluttering across an azure sky, doesn’t really add much, either.

But as much as this is the story of Colton’s journey to heaven and back, it’s also about his father’s journey to doubt and back. The son is saved and so, in a way, is the father. This is what makes the movie so gripping and engrossing. (However, more than once, I had to wonder if Todd, on hearing his son’s incredible descriptions of the afterlife, wasn’t just imagining angels but also envisioning movie and book deals…but I digress.)

I came away from “Heaven is for Real” believing that heaven is for real—but I didn’t need persuading to begin with. I imagine it will be that way for most viewers, many of whom have embraced the book and are eager to see it reflected on the screen. They won’t be disappointed.

And in a movie marketplace teeming with big, loud, violent, shrill blockbusters, it’s a blessing to be able to take in a movie that isn’t aiming to bust blocks, but touch hearts.

“Heaven is for Real” does that. For moviegoers craving stories that uplift and inspire, this movie may be an answered prayer.

Movies

Previous Post

April 21, 2014

Priest ordered to stop involvement in "Pope Francis House of Hope" for addicts

Next Post

April 22, 2014 Andrea Bocelli drops by Miami church for Easter Mass

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "Mad Men" 9/11 advent All Things New Amazing video amazing videos amazon america Anglicans Anti-Catholicism art ascension thursday ash wednesday Atheists baltimore Bible Bishops Blogging bonnie engstrom Books bridgeport Brooklyn Chaplains children christian art christmas Church Churches CNEWA Converts criticism Deacons Death Penalty easter eastern christian Eastern Christians Ecumenism Education education Eucharist Europe euthanasia Evangelization Exorcism Family Feasts Gay rights Good Friday Great links Great Moments in Journalism Hanging with the saints heather renshaw Hispanic Catholics Hispanics History homelies Homilies Humor Hymn of the Week Immigration indianapolis Inspiration Interfaith news ireland Jesus Jews Journalism Judaism lent Liturgy logos Marriage Mary Media Medical news Mental health Middle East Monks Movies Music Muslims My world and welcome to it New Evangelization new york News Nuns Parenting Parish life peoria Persecution Politics politics Pope pope francis pope john paul Prayer Preaching Priests Pro-life Quote of the day radio rebecca frech ripp Ripped from the headlines rippred from the headlines Sacraments saints Scripture sex abuse Sex abuse crisis SEX ABUSE CRISIS TAGGED WITH: SEX ABUSE CRISIS The people in the pews the visitation project theatre This & that Thomas Merton Trappists TV uncategorized Uncategorized VATICAN Vatican vocation Vocations Voices & Views Women Worth a thousand words Writing Year of Faith year of mercy young people

Select a Month December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How did Jesus provide for the temple tax?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Found in a tree He multiplied bread A coin in a fish's mouth He borrowed from Judas

Books by This Author Books by Deacon Greg Kandra

See All Titles »