Life! Reel

Miracles from Heaven: An emotional faith-centered journey

Jennifer Garner;Martin Henderson;Kylie Rogers

WHEN she’s just 10 years old, Annabel (Kylie Rogers) winds up in the hospital over and over again as doctors struggle to find anything wrong with her. What they end up discovering is that she has a rare digestive disorder that robs her of her childhood and nearly her life. While Annabel finds comfort in her faith, her mother
(Jennifer Garner), who accompanies her every step of the way, doesn’t—not until a miracle comes her daughter’s way.

Movies that are faith-based can be difficult to review critically because they walk a fine line. They have to entertain a secular audience while still having the message that a faith-based audience wants. “Miracles From Heaven,” like “Soul Surfer” before it, is inspired by true events, and one of the best examples of a movie that can do both.

The downside to a film like this one is that the entire story is given away in the promotional material. The trailer alone has the full plot of the movie in under two minutes. If you already know how everything’s going to turn out, why see it? Because the performances are just that good.

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Aside from an accent that goes in and out, this really is one of Jennifer Garner’s most emotional performances. Given that she’s a crier in nearly every movie she’s ever been in, that’s saying something. The movie was in production right as she and Ben Affleck’s separation news hit the press though, and it’s not hard to guess that her own thoughts of her family might have contributed to the performance she gives. She’s a mom who is willing to do anything to help her little girl, even if that means grabbing a last minute plane ticket to fly her daughter across the country to see a specialist whose waiting list is months long. She’s the woman barely holding it all together as she tries to do what’s right for her family and save her middle child’s life.

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If Garner is the heart of the movie, Queen Latifah provides the humor. A movie about a child with a likely fatal illness is never going to be something light and fluffy and easy to watch, but from the moment Latifah’s introduced in the film, she gives it some much needed levity, cracking jokes and making the mother-daughter duo smile as they tour Boston. For those prone to crying during dramatic stories, Latifah is a necessary addition to give the waterworks a much needed break, and to remind the audience that there’s hope even when it seems that everything is falling apart.

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But the real star of this movie is Kylie Rogers. Rogers has racked up 23 credits between film and television in just four short years, and with good reason. She is undeniably the standout of the film, even upstaging Queen Latifah in some of the more comedic scenes. When things get dramatic, you’ll hold your breath and wait for results with her. When she hurts, you hurt. She’s got that it factor, even as a child, that shines through. She brings a wise-beyond-her-years quality that acts in contrast to the innocence of Annabel. Even if you and Annabel don’t have the same faith, or even the same level of faith, you want to believe that this kid got a miraculous break.

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While the bulk of the movie is a dramatic journey that requires the actors to flex all of their talent muscles, it’s when the miracle hits and the movie begins to wind down that you get a chance to breathe and enjoy the way the story plays out. In short? Even if faith-based films aren’t your thing, give “Miracles from Heaven” a chance if only to see some truly masterful work. (themovienetwork.com)

TAGS: heaven, movie, review
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