Heaven Is For Real (2014), PG, ★★★

Greg Kinnear communicating with his son.

Does one person truly believe that a person going "under the knife" or being dead for about 30 seconds has experienced Heaven? I cannot answer or anybody cannot answer except that person because the victim is the only human being that experienced the afterlife. You only live once. We cannot say to ourselves or to any other loved ones that he or she or I want to see what Heaven (or Hell, if it exists) is like. The experience is a rare disclosure. I will get to what I truly believe in later in the review. However, this movie was at times, self-indulgent and a tad over-melodramatic in this subject, but, in the end, I was surprised how good the movie presents the story.

The story sets in Imperial, Nebraska where Todd Burpo (Greg Kinnear) is a repairman, a high school wrestling coach, a volunteer firefighter and a pastor of his local church. He is a dedicated man, however, I cannot figure out how wrestling and being a pastor can fit in his myriad of activities and jobs. He is on medical leave from the church because he is suffering from kidney stones and a softball accident.

Todd's family is struggling financially but Todd's wife, Sonja (Kelly Reilly), insists on taking a vacation to Denver with their children, Cassie and Colton (Lane Styles and Connor Corum). During their return home, Cassie and Colton get sick and days later, Cassie gets better but Colton's fever keeps spiking. The family go to the hospital where the doctor notifies them that his appendix has ruptured and will need emergency surgery. Todd prays and yells at God in the hospital chapel by testing his faith and getting him to go through such misery and Sonya is asking friends to pray for him. After the surgery, doctors say that it was a miracle and Colton has survived the operation and will fully recover.

Colton and Todd go back to Denver just to touch the tarantula that he and Cassie encountered on their first trip. (I'll get to that a little later.) Colton says that this where he went to Heaven and meet Jesus. He gives detailed description about how accurate Heaven is and what Jesus does look like. His news spreads all over town and Todd is having trouble identifying his son and he seeks advice from friends and a psychologist for explanations.

Todd and Sonya (Kelly Reilly) having a stressful time with the situation.

What do I believe? I believe that Heaven does exist for an infinite amount of people. But the question is, how does the afterlife accept people beyond the heavenly gates? I cannot quite put the pieces of the puzzle. But, a person entirely accepts the sins that he or she has committed and begs God for forgiveness. All is forgiven for their sins and everyone sinned at least once. But, it entirely depends how massive the action the person has committed to match the price the person has to pay for their sins. Temptation is real easy to obtain if you cannot control yourself. Heaven, in my opinion, is accepted to about every human being who has done something exceptional and cordial to everyone else and for themselves. As for bad people, it is up to them to redeem themselves or not.

Greg Kinnear gives a strong performance as the person who has trouble accepting whether his son has seen Heaven. He struggles whether it even exists and it is sort of contradicting and shocking simultaneously because he is a pastor. Kelly Reilly is underused a bit, but she gives a balanced performance. Thomas Haden Church provides nuance. But, the movie's best performance goes to Connor Corum as the boy. He really makes us believe that he experienced something with no corniness.

Corum's chemistry with Kinnear drives the movie forward as we, the audience, are focused on the father-son relationship. It is a critical time in the family's life as they are struggling both financially and emotionally. They provide the best moments in the movie as we pay attention to the movie and to ourselves as to what we believe in our inner souls as it penetrates our belief in Heaven, Christianity and our faith.

I have to credit director Randall Wallace, who is recognized as the writer of Braveheart, for giving this movie to think about. Even though these Christian-based films or miraculous medical films seem to not work entirely most of the time, I enjoyed it. Although the movie eschews away from the chemistry, the movie returns to its flaws of how the news spread around and how their burdens were taken away. The ending, whereas it was acceptable and made sense, felt rushed. The movie is a long sermon. But, it is a good sermon that I can comprehend that there is no conclusion or climax after the movie is over. In the end, it comes down to what we believe. And, that's good enough for me.

***