Heaven is for Real

Every year, there are a certain amount of Christian films released. You could say that they are unnoticed or that people forget about them because studios don't seem to have confidence in them to make a profit. No doubt though there have been some religious films that have made their mark on the film industry including The Passion of the Christ in 2004, Jonah: Veggie Tales in 2002 and the famous The Ten Commandments in 1956.

Twenty years down the road, when we look back to the films of 2014, you could say that religion was a theme in some of the films. Even though panned by most people and based off a mini series, Son of God about the life of Jesus was a profitable movie. Noah the Ark with Darren Aronofsky and Russell Crowe about of course the story of Noah the Ark was a blockbuster. The year 2015 will bring us a film about the life of Mary, and also Exodus: Gods and Kings that is in post-production. Only time will tell if there will be more films about religion down the road.

Based off the best selling novel of the same name, Heaven for Real is the true story of Colton Burpo who went through emergency surgery in 2003 and went on a magical journey through heaven during it. It is a journey that left a family in wonder and a small town in Nebraska in a media frenzy .

Even though looked at as a small market film, this film very includes big names. Greg Kinnear plays father and pastor Todd Burpo who is mystified but excited about Colton's experience. Kelly Reilly plays the mother Sonia who takes a more of an emotional approach to the Colton story. Big name actor Thomas Haden Church plays family friend Jay Olson who we can like but really adds nothing to the story.The center of attention to the story is of course Colton with acting by young actor by Connor Corum which is hit or miss and a character that you feel is out of his head. His sister Cassie is played by Lane Style who is given nothing to do and is a character that doesn't add anything to the story. Overall, the cast is kind of a mess.  

This film eventually fails because of it's lack of attention to detail. It just mopes around, gives us no secondary ideas and has a very repetitive in plot. You are left to wonder to as what's more to this story and if this film was a just marketing campaign for the book. You literally leave the theater knowing as much as you did coming in.                                                      

 

Maybe this movie found its audience and I would think most religious people would like it but Heaven for Real is lousy beyond belief. It has an interesting plot to work off of but doesn't do much with it. This is a film with not a lot to it and not for me.

2/5

Sideways

As a person who was born in 1996, I grew up with actors, Thomas Haden Church and Paul Giamatti even though it was only two films. I liked Church in George of the Jungle which is now just a film to see how skinny Brendan Fraser was back in the day. I liked Giamatti in Big Fat Liar which now I can see as an awful film though as a kid I liked it. Seeing these two was the only reason why I sat down to watch this film. That said, it is a film that is high-minded and intelligent but again nothing I would have gone out of my way to see.

Sideways is part road movie, part drama and part relationship film about buddies Miles and Jack (Giamatti and Church) who go on a road trip for days up the California Valley tasting wine just before Jack's wedding.

As expected, Giamatti and Church are excellent but the supporting cast might be even better. The secondary cast includes Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh and it is the secondary cast that brings everything together pushing it in the right direction and fitting the film into a nice package. The characters show a variety of emotions. They can be mean, full of good sexual antics, and also show heart and warmth along the way. They might not be the most original but again, they make a good package.

The main reason why I was a little less than impressed with this movie was the rather dull plot. Maybe because I am still a teenager, I really don't see what is so interesting about wine. It is a different idea no doubt but it is still dull and the scenes are not really developed and don't go anywhere.

Sideways is a movie with an interesting idea but the movie was kind of beyond me and not a movie I would spend any time with again.

4/5