Review of 90 Minutes in Heaven (2015) by Leon B — 07 May 2016

"Is "Heaven" a boring place to visit? This movie certainly thinks so.".

DVD Movie Review: 90 Minutes in Heaven.

Date Viewed: December 6 2015.

Directed By Michael Polish (Twin Falls Idaho,.

Northfork, For Lovers Only, The Smell of Success and The Astronaut Farmer).

Screenplay By Michael Polish, Based on the novel by Don Piper.

Starring: Hayden Christensen, Kate Bosworth, Dwight Yoakam, Michael Harding, Michael W. Smith, Rhoda Griffis, David Clyde Carr, Jody Thompson, Hudson Meek, Bobby Batson, Elizabeth Hunter, Catherine Carlen and Fred Dalton Thompson.

The latest entry in the overly-Evangelical Christian movie sweepstakes is "90 Minutes in Heaven", a melodramatic Lifetime movie that should've never been released to theaters. What's baffling about this movie is that it has two big movie stars, Kate Bosworth and Hayden Christensen. The screenplay is cynical and preachy and the movie doesn't need to be two hours long. The performers do what they can with the material but for a movie about finding your prayers, it is pretty dull.

"90 Minutes in Heaven" is based on the true story of Don Piper (Christensen), a Texas preacher who has a wife, Eva (Bosworth) and three children, Chris (Hudson Meek), Joe (Bobby Batson) and Nicole (Elizabeth Hunter). On January 18, 1989, Don was involved in a terrible car crash and he was declared dead by first responders. 90 minutes later, a first responder feels a pulse in Don indicating that he's still alive.

Where was Don for 90 minutes? He went to Heaven. When he gets his first glimpse of Heaven, he thinks it is a beautiful place and he also visits with deceased relatives. When Don is brought back to life by doctors, he wishes that he can stay in Heaven forever. On the long road to recovery, Don becomes more miserable than he has been before, Eva is worried about him and is concerned about the state of his condition.

Unable to afford all those medical bills, Eva hires a reputable lawyer named Cecil Beaumont (Dwight Yoakam). His main tagline is "I'm Your Beau" and Cecil smells lawsuits coming because the truck driver involved with the horrific car crash was a prison convict. Meanwhile, the late Fred Dalton Thompson shows up late in the film as a fellow preacher who tells Don to put his faith in God and regain his strength.

Christensen and Bosworth have fallen from grace alright, I'm talking about the state of their careers. Christensen is doing triple-duty this year, with "Outcast", "American Heist" (which I didn't see) and now "90 Minutes in Heaven" maybe it's time for Anakin Skywalker to abandon the Force and move on to much better choices. Writer and director Michael Polish (Twin Falls Idaho, For Lovers Only, Northfork and The Astronaut Farmer) put his faith and soul into this film but it doesn't have a prayer.

Is "Heaven" a boring place to visit? This movie certainly thinks so.