Heaven Is For Real **½

Randall Wallace directed this Drama. Watch Preview. Cast: Greg Kinnear, Kelly Reilly, Connor Corum, Margo Martindale, Thomas Haden Church. Rated PG thematic material including some medical situations. Running time is one hour and forty minutes.

The true story of a small-town father (Kinnear) who must find the courage and conviction to share his son's extraordinary, life-changing experience, with the world. Inspired by the #1 New York Times best-selling book of the same name.

This is not the kind of film I'd normally review since I limit myself to entertainment films and avoid message films like the plague. Still, my wife read this book and wanted to see the film, so I went along for the ride. Basically, it turned out to be not as bad as I had supposed it would be. It has a better than average cast than your average message pic does. It's hard not to like Kinnear in whatever role he's in and I hadn't seen Haden Church for awhile. I am surprised they used British actress Reilly as the wife since I'm used to seeing her in English mystery shows. She had none of her usual accent although I felt she was a little out of her comfort  zone. And no matter what film she's in next, never, ever let her do a solo vocal again! As for the story itself, if you're a 'believer', you'll believe in this film's story. If you're a skeptic, this will have marginal effect on that view. I will give the film credit for not being as 'preachy' as  I thought it might be, but rather a dramatization of a best selling novel.

There are no additional scenes once the final credits begin. Screen size is unimportant. Theatres/Times.