Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

If my plans for the day hadn’t suddenly been cancelled, I would never have gone to see this movie. After all, I, and everybody in America, knew the plot. A feel-good miracle movie, a predictable (for movie plots, that is) ending, above average acting (since Jennifer was in it), a little Jesus thrown in for good measure, and we all get inspired. But it was a matinee price, and something to do. Well, the plot was predictable. I knew the story. But to my surprise, this movie was not about the miracle of the little girl’s healing. While for sure that is the fulcrum around which everything else in the film pivots, her miracle is merely the driving factor for the little ‘coincidences’—the true, everyday miracles in life—whose explanations are skillfully restrained until the end of the film. You don’t just watch Miracles from Heaven. You feel it. Because of the excellent script and casting, you cringe and feel the pain this child endures in sometimes graphic scenes. You feel the agony of hopelessness which a helpless mother endures when God is silent, and her critics and skeptics--aren’t. You feel the forgiveness from a heart shattered by insult--and the empathy--of what must be the world’s most compassionate physician. But most of all, you feel the subtle power of miracles in the odd, and often inexplicable, ‘little things’ which happen ‘along the way’ in the greatest of crises, and lead to you know not where. It’s those little miracles which lift this film—from mere inspiration—to reminding us that every thread of life is woven into a much bigger whole which we seldom ever see, and even more seldom—appreciate. The film teaches us through heartache and excruciating pain that the small things, even the smallest of things—an unmade appointment, a computer ‘glitch’, a chance encounter, a fortuitous roommate, a child's necklace--are woven together for good in the plan of a sovereign God (Romans 8:28). Miracles from Heaven is no ‘preachy’ film, as I had feared. It is not a Catholic diatribe on supernaturalism. It is not a Pentecostal sermon on ‘just have enough faith’. In fact, it’s just the opposite. It is the you and me in the 'raw' of doubt, frustration, and utter hopelessness. Christians are as much the villains in this film (“there must be sin in the child’s life”) as persistence, fortitude, and faith, are the heroes, and this movie will pick you up and slam you down emotionally, often when you least expect it. Like all wonderful stories, it gets better as it progresses, and near the end--just when you are sure the last emtional reaction has been wrenched from you--it blindsides you one last time. Though this movie's message of faith may not be everyone's cup of tea ('...we just get there when we get there'), inspirational--it certainly is. There was neither a weak performance in the film, nor a dry eye in the theater as I left. Both Jennifer and the little girl give sterling performances, as does Queen Latifah. Four things I took from Miracles from Heaven were, first, that we need to search less for the ‘miracles’, and concentrate more on doing what we can--when and where we are able--everyday of our lives. In this, we become miracles, instead of mere chasers of them. Secondly, when life seems to give you no direction—use your instincts and go somewhere; do something. Most often God works better in turning us, as opposed to pushing us to get up off the floor. Thirdly, remember--to someone hurting--what is the mundane to us can be a true miracle. What may seem trivial can be a life-changer. Finally, having done these things, we are left to trust an all-wise God who does not explain to us--any more than he explained to Job--why bad things happen to good people. Highly recommended; adults and kids.