Soul on Fire

Ever so often, we are offered an inspirational or religious film to cause us to think and reflect on our lives and those around us. Films such as "Ordinary Angels", "Angels in the Outfield","Soul Surfer", "Miracles from Heaven", "The Unbreakable Boy", "American Underdog", "Invincible", and the like are films to tug on the heart while allowing us to witness a sobering situation. Now, to add to that list, we have "Soul on Fire".

"Soul on Fire" is an emotional and faith-filled portrait of resilience as John O'Leary (Joel Courtney) not only battles to survive an awful fire at the age of nine with years of surgeries and rehab, but ultimately discovers what it means to truly live. From frontline workers including Nurse Roy (DeVon Franklin) and Dr. Ayvazian (Iyad Hajjaj) to family members including his father, Denny O'Leary (John Corbett), his mother, Susan (Stephanie Szostak), his then girlfriend, Beth (Masey McLain) and the support of the wider community including the owner of the St. Louis Cardinals, Jack Buck (William H. Macy), this film is a celebration of heroes. 

Others to round out the cast are James McCracken as Young John, Natalie Buck as Nurse Colleen, Stella Bratcher as Amy O'Leary, Mikey Cestone as Jim O'Leary, Lucy Panozzo as Susie O'Leary, Enya Flack as Mrs. Whittacher and Brandon Davis as Self. 

This was directed with heart and inspiration by Sean McNamara ("Hollywood Chaos" '89, "The Legend of Galgameth" '96. "P.U.N.K.S." '98, "Race to Space" '01, "Bratz" '07, "Soul Surfer" '11, "Space Warriors" '13, "Spare Parts" '15, "Hoovey" '15, "The Miracle Season"'18, "Orphan Horse" '18, "Mighty Oak" '20, "The King's Daughter" '22, "On a Wing and a Prayer" '23, "Vindicta" '23, "Reagan" '24) plus other films, TV movies, Shorts, TV and videos. This seasoned director obviously knows his way around a film set and like with other movies, his staging and pacing seems effortless. The emotions these actors exuded wasn't fraught with sentimentality while still tugging at your heartstrings and this is well delineated and structured direction. He has many films and TV shows in the workings whether they be in development or pre-production. It was penned well by Gregory Poirier (" Danger Zone III: Steel Horse War" '90,  "Death Riders" '94, "Wild Malibu Weekend!" '95, "Rosewood" '97, "Gossip" 2000, "See Spot Run" '01, "Tomcats" '01, "A Sound of Thunder" '05, "The Spy Next Door"'10, "A Warrior's Tail" '15, "Yaga i kniga zaklinaniy" '23, "Knox Goes Away" '23) plus TV and videos, based on the book, "On Fire" by John O'Leary. There were a couple of small areas of continuity issues where the film was formatted in a quasi flashback way, and with that it became a bit confusing as the script was traversing from one scene to another, but certainly not enough to detract from this incredible story of the resiliency of this young man. 

If films based on true stories, or more to the point, inspirational films also are your liking, this film will fit the bill in spades. The cast was very effective where they hinged on one another's characters, and in this type of film, that is crucial. It's a sobering, heartfelt yet entertaining movie that teaches us all what strength in God is about and how grateful we all are and should be. 

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                        Rated: PG                                        112mins.