Heaven is for Real (2014)
Certified: U
Duration: 99 minutes
Directed: Randall Wallace
Starring: Connor Corum, Greg Kinnear, Kelly Reilly, Lane Styles, Margo Martindale, Thomas Haden Church, Jacob Vargas, Nancy Sorel, Danso Gordon, Darcy Fehr
KRS release
For Todd Burpo (Greg Kinnear), life is going to turn upside down. He lives in the small town of Imperial in the state of Nebraska and has many roles to play. He is married to Sonja (Kelly Reilly), has two children, Cassie and Colton (Lane Styles and Connor Corum), is the town’s pastor, is a fireman on a voluntary basis, coaches the school’s wrestling team and also repairs cars for a living.
As a pastor he has been quite successful in bringing together the Church members. Among the flock there is Nancy Rawling (Margo Martindale), whose son was killed while in the military, and Jay Wilkins (Thomas Haden Church), the president of the local bank.
The congregation has stood by Todd through many things but when Colton nearly dies, Todd’s faith is shaken. The boy says that in his near-death experience, he went to heaven and describes what he saw there. At first incredulous, Todd starts to believe him when he talks about things a boy his age should not know.
When news about Colton starts to spread, the residents and leading members of the congregation start to worry that their town might turn into a media circus. Todd tries to control all this and how these events might affect his family and faith.
Heaven is for Real is based on the book of the same name by Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent which made it to the New York Times bestselling list and sold over a million e-books.
The movie adaption was made on a small budget of $12 million but has nearly returned over nine times as much, making it quite the box-office hit.
Such a storyline would normally be turned into a faith-based movie aimed at a specific target audience. However, the film is provided with an all-round cast that is very strong and recognisable. Director Randall Wallace, who wrote the script for Braveheart and directed the likes of Secretariat and We Were Soldiers, here makes a well-rounded effort and shows that he knows how to test our tear ducts.
Kinnear and Corum provide enough commitment and father-son bonding to make the film very real and tangible. The important factor here is not whether the small boy is telling the truth or whether what he is saying is a figment of his overworked imagination, but it is more about how as individuals we should start appreciating what we have and what is around us. This is delivered with the right slice of earnestness mixed with humour and drama.
Kinnear is the natural anchor of the film while Corum is sweet and wide-eyed. The child and the farming country scenery, delivered by Oscar-winning cinematographer Dean Semler, are the must-see points of the movie.
Heaven is for Real thankfully does not overdose the screen with special effects for the afterlife, which is a huge plus for the film as it keep things more grounded. In the end, the audience will come to realise that heaven is also around us in the little things we take for granted.