Review of Heaven Is for Real (2014) by Aaron B — 02 Aug 2014

I found this crowd-pleasing film to be quite watchable which is surprising coming from me as most "film" with a religious slant has low production value and questionable acting which disturbs the film snob within myself.

When one is done well, I like it ... but bad acting is bad acting and I won't sell-out praise for something truly mediocre no matter how much I wish I could enjoy the story. Heaven Is for Real is based on a massive best-selling book by a small-town Nebraska minister who purports that his son encountered Jesus -- on a rainbow colored unicorn no-less -- and others (deceased family members he never knew) in Heaven while undergoing emergency surgery.

I appreciated the skepticism initially at hand here (as a doubting Thomas ... I'd have done the same) by the boy's minister father (Greg Kinnear - As Good As It Gets) and others in town such as frequent churchgoer Margo Martindale (August: Osage County).

Luminous Kelly Reilly (Flight) drops her Brit accent to play Midwest farm wife going through personal and financial struggles many can identify with. The film is about a set of realist believers who aren't consumed with the more far-reaching aspects of some evangelicals and I believe this made the film much more approachable.

The young actor in the key role isn't the strongest but ... I'll overlook that as much of the film worked for me. I am not the most vocal of believers as I believe many have been put-off by the self-righteous and so it was nice to encounter a film about people with my POV.

Having a doubt or two is not a bad thing -- Thomas was full of doubts but still embraced whole-heartedly. Heaven Is for Real will be what you make of it.