Heaven Is for Real (2014) Reviews

• Surprisingly pleasant in contradiction of critical reviews.

  rhhdvh2014-07-17

  Wow, after reading the reviews that are at the extremes, I really didn't know what to expect. But I like to judge controversy for myself and so when the title came up at the $1.50 Theater we went. Surprisingly, the smaller auditorium was about ½ full. What a delightful movie, so far and away from what I was set up for by all the disparaging - bordering on hateful comments and low ratings. It makes we wonder if the low raters even saw the show, or have hearts of stone; their reviews discredit them. The movie is about a local minister, in a small church, who works several jobs to make ends barely meet, married with two small children. His parish loves him and life is marginally good. But then his four year old son gets a burst appendix, and their whole life gets turned upside down for fear their son will perish. The minister screams at God, his faith tested to the core. A pray chain is set up at the church, in the town, and the boy narrowly pulls through. Everyone is relieved and life gets back to normal. Or so it seems. But then the four year old begins innocently to reveal to his father, that he had had an out of body experience, and provides details of heaven, like seeing his father screaming at God in the hospital chapel. Over time, the boy continues to relate more material so that the father consults a psychologist who discredits the actual encounter as normal memory tricks. Somehow the news leaks out of the family, to the church and community, and public controversy ensues. What to believe? Yet still more and more facts come out from the child that could not be known to the child except from his encounter; that then convince the minister of heaven's reality, from his son's innocent testimony. The minsters faith waivers, but then finally returns to belief. The movie is a real tear jerker. The plot moves quickly and steadily; the acting is superb, the child priceless. It ends well, a happy ending and faith is explored. For me, it was a pleasant surprise and in all a fine little low budget movie that witnesses faith with honest reason and doubt. Definitely worth the $1.50 and the time.

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• Sorry I Waited to See This

  mdgordon2014-06-28

  I loved this film. I knew the basic plot going in, but was pleasantly surprised on how well the film was put together. There was comedy, drama, real-life all wrapped in one film. The acting was solid. Greg was great, Margo was awesome, Thomas and Nancy were solid and I was in love with Kelly. Conner was great at just being the innocent child. I loved the scenery, the rural life, the wide open spaces, the cinematography and the family life complete with it's struggles. Add to that the trauma of a nearing losing a child then having a unique heavenly experience. Rather than simply preach to us, the film shared the real human flesh struggles of a man that was a minister, but still a man. Even if not based on a true story, it would be a great movie.

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• Pleasantly Surprised By This One

  patsworld2014-04-17

  I read the book and really liked it, gave me plenty to think about. But in all honesty I couldn't imagine they would be able to make a good movie out of this. I was certain it would end up overly sentimental or artificial or that it simply would not live up to the book. However, they did it – hence the surprise. This movie IS the book brought to life on the big screen. The casting is superb. Greg Kinnear is the ideal father, Kelly Reilly is fine as the mom, and how they managed to find the perfect child to portray Colton Burpo is amazing. Connor Corwin is so natural and likable, he is wonderful in the role . This movie is not preachy. It does not tell the audience what to believe or not to believe. Like the book, it gives those of us who believe further evidence that we're on the right track. But for those in doubt, it gives you plenty to think about and leaves you with questions you must work out for yourself. It just might leave you with hope and the courage to think there might be something to this belief in Jesus and Heaven. All in all, this is a splendid movie and I'd recommend it, and the book, whole-heartedly.

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• Not overly religious and not preachy - which is a very good thing.

  danielendy2014-04-21

  I'm very spiritual but not very religious. This movie does an excellent job of sharing important information about the very real issues that near death experiences (NDEs) bring up. All the NDE stories have certain similarities and a judgmental God is not part of them at all. Religion doesn't matter either. All that matters is love for one another. IMO. Those last few sentences were preacher than this whole movie -- which is a very good thing. It is very tough to tell a spiritual story without being preachy, but this movie does it very well. If you have the slightest interest, you will enjoy this movie. Is it perfect? No, nothing is, but this movie is pretty good. 8 out of 10 stars. Acting is good too. Kudos to all involved in the production. Epilogue: There's an odd phenomena happening with any movie that is religious or potentially religious, like this film. They get a lot of 1-star ratings. I'm certain these come from zealots. Mostly, I suspect they are militant atheists who think belief in God is the root of all of mankind's problems. I'm talking about the disciples of Richard Dawkins here. I'll bet serious money that most of the 1-star reviewers never saw the movie. With a movie like this one there is another potential source of 1-star reviews, fundamentalists who like their religious ideas literal and straight from the bible. Those folks will not like this movie at all. Real spirituality is complicated.

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• Not very exciting or uplifting

  aharmas2014-04-20

  "Heaven is for Real" is a nice narrative, but half-way through it, you begin to get tired of the writer's style. True, he's just a regular human being, but he should have availed himself of some support to its story. It wasn't necessary to invent anything, just to make the simplicity more powerful without losing half of the audience. The film has the same problem. It begins beautifully, pretty much setting up the atmosphere like "Field of Dreams", a film that evokes the spirituality in us in a much better way because it never loses focus. "Heaven" feels like it loses its way and desperately tries to make the message clear in not very subtle ways. Connor Burpo has an out-of-body experience, which drives his pastor father and half the world a bit crazy because heaven couldn't be so literal or simple. If the director had tried to concentrate on the marvelous child with the difficult role, we would have been more satisfied with the overall product. Instead, we are treated to an overdose of zealous imagery and the power is almost lost. Kinnear is not bad, but he doesn't have much to do but repeat and repeat and repeat what we already know. The problem is not the audience in the movie theater, but the audience of his preacher. Faith is not easily portrayed because it is intangible yet powerful; however it is not impossible but it has made its appearance in films that we wouldn't normally associate with such concept. There are some moments that are very touching, most of them dealing with the difficult moments which result from Connor's emergency intervention. He's such a charming kid that watching him in distress breaks our hearts. Thinking he's dying is unbearable for his parents and us. A call to prayer is a really moving moment, but from then on, it is just a matter of hoping the film won't drag, and this it does very well. I suppose it's a matter of interpretation, and through the eyes of the child, the message would have been pure and very powerful, but the film goes out of its way to present those elements that people are beginning to feel uncomfortable with. One of the characters in the film puts it very clearly: it's not to be taken literally. She never negates it happened, but how it's being presented. Connor is after all, privy to something special, but it is the father's interpretation that is problematic. Some people will have no problem just following this path, but what about those who need to be convinced or kept from going astray? It's certainly not happening with this version of events.

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