Miracles from Heaven

Inspirational films have certainly been a hot commodity in recent years--in fact, to put a more fine point on it, films about heaven have really soared in popularity. Two years ago we saw "Heaven is for Real", last year "90 Minutes in Heaven" hit the multiplex, and now we are offered "Miracles from Heaven" to whet our movie going appetites. Is there an end to these films? Not sure, but as long as there are people wanting to know more about an afterlife, my guess would be 'no' to the previous question.

This is based on the incredible true story of the Beam family. When Christy (Jennifer Garner) and husband, Kevin (Martin Henderson) discovers their 10-year-old daughter, Anna (Kylie Rogers) has a rare, incurable intestinal disease, they become ferocious advocates for their daughter's healing as they search for a solution. Through Dr. Burgi (Bruce Altman), they learn of the top specialist in the field, Dr. Nurko (Eugenio Derbez) in Boston whose waiting list is nine months to obtain an appointment. Eventually, quicker than expected, an appointment comes up and Christy and Anna fly from Texas to Boston to seek help. After many tests, procedures, medications and the like, Anna is home, and after a freak accident, an extraordinary miracle unfolds in the wake of her dramatic rescue that leaves Dr. Nurko and others mystified, her family restored and their community inspired.

Others to round out the cast are Brighton Sharbino as Abbie Beam, Anna's older sister, Courtney Fansler as Adelynn Beam, Anna's younger sister, Queen Latifah as Angela, John Carroll Lynch as Pastor Scott, Wayne Pere as Ben, Hannah Alligood as Hayley and Zach Sale as Dr. Todd Blythe.

This was directed by a filmmaker with quite the eclectic resume, Patricia Riggen ("Under the Same Moon" '07, "Revolucion" (Segment "Lindo y querido") '10, Lemonade Mouth (TV movie) '11, "Girl in Progress" '12, "The 33" '15). She is an effective director in knowing how much emotion is needed depending on the scene at hand. Such as the build up of emotion Garner exuded when the ER doc was trying to tell her that her daughter's problem was only an anti-reflux problem when a true mom knows better and she finally made her opinion adamantly known. It was written by Randy Brown ("Trouble with the Curve" '12) based on the book by Christy Beam. Truly this wasn't a difficult script to write considering the storyline, however with only one other film under this writer's belt, this was a well thought out script about a young girl getting sick and the parents' desperation in seeking help from the horizontal--medical field, and the vertical--faith and God, and the miraculous healing that takes place subsequently. Before I went to see this, I thought it would be another "Heaven is for Real", but it definitely has its own standing. Sure, it's not perfect--there's a few inconsistencies, but overall it's a nice tight script. Kudos to this newbie writer. The one that truly steals the show here is Eugenio Derbez as Dr Nurko. If he played this doctor true to form of this person, that doctor must have a heart of gold and oozed with compassion.

Whether one is a spiritual person or not, there's something here for everyone. There are times to see something fluff-filled, airheaded and simple, but then I believe there are times to watch a film that will cause us to think about what's out there that transcends beyond our time on this planet, and this surely fits the bill.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                 Rated: PG                                    109mins.