Miracles From Heaven is like ‘a very special episode’ of Touched By an Angel or Highway to Heaven or some tv-movie you might see on the Hallmark Channel or ABC Family at Christmas or Easter. It doesn’t need to be seen on the big screen unless you’re a huge fan of the aforementioned programs and/or a good Christian family looking for a faith-based movie to affirm your faith in god, prayer, and miracles. The movie is based on a book that is based on a true story about a Texas girl named Anna Beam (Kylie Rogers). At age 10, Anna was diagnosed with an incurable digestive disease that miraculously went away after she fell 30-feet, head-first, into a hollow tree. That’s not a spoiler. That’s the story.
The movie benefits from the star power of Jennifer Garner as Anna’s mother, Christy Beam, a woman whose faith is tested as she struggles to get help for her ailing daughter. Garner is solid in the role, but I found myself distracted by constant changes in her hairstyle from one scene to the next. Continuity! Anyway, a series of events and characters, including a pediatric GI specialist in Boston named Dr. Nurko (Eugenio Derbez), a sympathetic waitress (Queen Latifah), a close-knit family, and various friends, all play a part in Anna’s journey, which may or may not have taken her to the gates of heaven. The film goes a bit overboard at times with the hallelujah vibe and the lights streaming through the clouds, but the (faith-based) target audience will likely eat it up. It’s hard not to get teary-eyed throughout this movie, because nobody likes to see a sweet, innocent child in pain. You can’t help but root for Anna and her entire family, even as you know your emotions are being manipulated and that everything will be okay in the end. The movie has some fundamental flaws that skeptics will surely have a field day with. Believers, however, will likely sing its praises.