Heaven is For Real – Film Review by Frances Winston

Directed by: Randall Wallace

Starring: Greg Kinnear, Kelly Reilly, Connor Corum, Lane Styles, Margo Martindale, Thomas Haden Church

In cinemas June 13th

This is based on the true story of a pastor’s son who claimed to have visited heaven during an emergency appendectomy. The book of the same name was a number one on the New York Times Bestseller List so it was only a matter of time before someone decided it deserved the big screen treatment.

Everyone’s favourite Mr Nice Guy Greg Kinnear plays the pastor in question Todd Burpo who finds himself struggling with his own faith after the revelations of his child Colton (Corum). Although the four-year-old describes heaven in astonishing detail and recalls meeting relations that he didn’t even know existed, Todd finds it difficult to reconcile this with his own beliefs of heaven and the afterlife. As Colton’s story spreads the family become media sensations and some of Todd’s parishioners begin to question his suitability for the role of preacher. With mounting debts and a growing lack of confidence from his church Todd and his wife Sonia (Reilly) struggle to make sense of their son’s spiritual journey.

This is well written with some great performances and although it takes a while to get going once it does it jogs along at a nice pace. It looks beautiful, with the Nebraska countryside providing a striking backdrop and Corum is super cute as Colton. Kinnear and Reilly are great as his tortured parents and all the actors give solid performances.

That’s the technical stuff. However, it also veers on the wrong side of overly sentimental and telegraphs a lot of stuff for a viewer that we really could have got without. The reality is that how much you enjoy this film will probably depend on your own personal belief system. When even Colton’s religious parents think his story is incredulous it makes it hard for an audience member to think otherwise and if you are not religious watching this will probably feel like whatever your idea of hell is.

This film definitely does have its place but it is very much aimed at a Christian market and is not the kind of movie that has crossover appeal. I thought it was a solid movie and well made but I didn’t leave it feeling like I had experienced any great catharsis and it didn’t strike a chord with me. However, there are those that will draw a lot from it and they are who it was made for. A nice, solid movie that just won’t be to everyone’s taste.