Heaven Is for Real

Is it my imagination or has Hollywood gone religious? We have seen a plethora of spiritual/ inspirational films in recent past: "Son of God", "God's Not Dead", "Noah", and now we have "Heaven Is for Real" to ponder over. Is this a trend or could it be that Hollywood is just cashing in on films while we are in the midst of the Easter season? Not sure.

This film brings to the screen the true story of a small town father/preacher in heartland Nebraska who must find the courage and conviction to share his son's extraordinary, life-changing experience with the world.
The film stars Greg Kinnear as Todd Burpo and co-stars Kelly Reilly as Sonja Burpo, the real-life couple whose son Colton (newcomer Connor Corum) claims to have visited Heaven during a near death experience while in surgery. Four-year-old Colton recounts the details of his amazing journey with childlike innocence and speaks matter-of-factly about things that happened outside the operating room and before his birth... things he couldn't possibly know. Todd and his family are then challenged to examine the meaning of this unforgettable event.

Others to round out the cast are Thomas Haden Church as Jay Wilkins, Margo Martindale as Nancy Rawling, Jacob Vargas as Michael, Lane Styles as Cassie Burpo, Todd and Sonja's daughter, Thanya Romero as Rosa, Danso Gordon as Ray, Rob Moran as Dr. O'Holleran, Nancy Sorel as Dr. Charlotte Slater, Darcy Fehr as Lee Watson, Vivian Winther as Katherine Watson, Pete Hudson as Old Man Watson and Ursula Clark as Painting Girl.

This was directed by Randall Wallace ("The Man in the Iron Mask" '98, "We Were Soldiers" '02, "Secretariat" '10). And even though he hasn't a huge list of films on his resume, given the time span, it's still solid, committed work in which he believed in the characters he was directing--a quality we don't see too often coming from Hollywood. This was written by Chris Parker and Randall Wallace based on the book, "Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back" by Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent. OK, I realize that this script is taken from a source that is based on a true story, however, the only problem I have with this story is that these people in this town are, predominantly, Christians, so I was a bit perplexed of why these people would have had the problem grappling with the concept that this little boy visited Heaven--a place these people believe exists? Being a Christian myself, I would have been asking Colton all kinds of questions about Heaven out of curiosity, not questioning whether he, in fact, did visit Heaven or not. This is part of the story, so nothing against the writers. Kinnear played a very convincing role as this father trying to grasp this as did Reilly as the mother.

The best thing about this is that it causes one to think of where they are, is there a Heaven, and where do we go when we leave this planet? You be the judge.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                             Rated: PG                            100mins.