Director: Patricia Riggen
Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Duration: 105 minutes
Miracles From Heaven (DVD) – Movie Review
Miracles From Heaven is a film based on a true story, which immediately made us wonder how incredible this story must be. It’s hard to believe in miracles when you’re living in this day and age, but maybe we should try to do it a bit more. Miracles don’t only involve water turning into wine and the sick getting healthy again, it also involves the little things in life such as love and a good home, things we often take for granted.
Christy Beam (Jennifer Garner) leads a happy life with her husband Kevin (Martin Henderson) and their children Anna (Kylie Rogers), Abbie (Brighton Sharbino) and Adelynn (Courtney Fansler) in their home in Texas. Kevin has just started his own animal clinic, which means they took all equity out of the house, for him to be able to do that. Everything is going well though, so there is nothing to worry about.
Things are about to change when Anna, the Beam’s ten year old daughter gets ill. She vomits and can’t hold any food in, but naturally everybody thinks it’s just a bug, and she’ll soon feel better. She keeps being ill unfortunately, and has severe stomach pains. Doctors run all kinds of tests, but can’t see anything abnormal. At last, one doctor says that she is lactose intolerant and the Beams, happy to finally know what is going on, start eating lactose free.
Anna keeps being very much in pain, and after they have rushed to hospital for the umpteenth time, Christy refuses to leave without a proper diagnosis. Finally the doctor finds out that she suffers from a rare, incurable stomach disease which means her body can’t process any food. While she can be fed using a probe, it will eventually kill her. There is one pediatrician in Boston who might be able to help her more, but he has an enormous waiting list, and thus Christy does her best to look after Anna at home while she waits for a phone call from Boston. Anna’s pain only gets worse though, so Christy decides to take Anna on a plane to Boston, go to the children’s hospital and make sure she sees Dr. Nurko (Eugenio Derbez) before they fly back home.
It’s a bit of a shame that the title of this film already spoils much of the ending, as the film is actually quite captivating to watch. That is probably mostly due to the acting performances, as the story itself is of course a bit predictable. Since it is based on a true story, it is quite hard to believe at times, but we have to say that the director did a good job building up the drama. The story keeps building up nicely, as they made sure that there were new characters introduced from time to time, who add a new dimension such as Angela (Queen Latifah), who they meet in Boston, or Haley (Hannah Alligood), a little girl also being treated at the children’s hospital. After the miracle though (which we won’t tell you too much about), it gets a bit dull, also because of the filming choices.
As we said before, the acting performances are quite captivating. Jennifer Garner is really convincing as Christy Beam, fighting for the life of her daughter. She manages to captivate you from start to finish and makes it all feel very real. Kylie Rogers does well as Anna, certainly given her young age and the complex role she had to play.
The extra features include a commentary with the director, a making of and a clip about the real Beam family. While they are very much the kinds of special features we would have expected, they are actually rather interesting to watch, as you’ve gotten to know the characters through the movie, and now you get a chance to see the characters and the real people come together. In any case, it made us believe that the casting was done very well.
Conclusion
Miracles from Heaven shows a captivating story about a mother hoping to find a cure for her daughter’s disease. The title causes the ending to be quite predictable, but the story is built up nicely. It’s probably the kind of film you have to have an open mind for in order to really enjoy it from start to finish, but overall, we liked it pretty well. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but not a bad film either.
Miracles From Heaven (DVD) - Movie Review,
No Comments