HEAVEN IS FOR REAL – The Review

When you die and go to heaven will you really see your late loved ones, sit on Jesus’ lap, and get serenaded by angels? That’s exactly how Colton Burp described his trip to the afterworld after an out-of-body experience when he was four years old. His father Todd, a pastor in Imperial Nebraska, shared his son’s experience in the family-friendly book HEAVEN IS FOR REAL which was a surprise best-seller on the Christian circuit and now here comes the film version. HEAVEN IS FOR REAL is as wholesome and square as it sounds. No profanity. No sex. No violence. That’s its hook. Unpretentious and plainspoken, it knows its target Christian audience well.

The plot of HEAVEN IS FOR REAL is disarmingly simple and there appears to be no question regarding the general circumstances themselves. The Burpos are a classic wholesome American family from the heartland, hardworking and faithful. Dad Todd (Greg Kinnear) is the town pastor, volunteer fireman, and has a garage door repair biz. He and his wife Sonja (Kelly Reilly) face a heartrending crisis when a burst appendix in their little son Colton (Connor Curom) nearly costs the lad his life. He pulls through and when recovered, begins to share memories of having gone to heaven during his surgery. Jesus comforted him there and introduced him to a sister his mom had miscarried and a great-grandfather he’d never met.

There are no real plot twists and not much more to the unchallenging story other than how Colton’s revelations affect Todd and the other residents of Imperial. HEAVEN IS FOR REAL has something of a Made-for-TV feel about it, unsurprising considering the subject matter and PG rating and feels padded even at just 100 minutes – we didn’t need to take two side trips to Denver’s Butterfly Pavilion to hold Rosie the Tarantula and the film spends way too much time detailing the Burpo’s financial problems (which I bet they don’t have any more!).

There have been more and more of these Christian films sneaking into theaters and making money from a large and receptive audience (OCTOBER BABY, GRACE UNPLUGGED, GOD’S NOT DEAD) and since they usually aren’t shown to critics in advance, I don’t see them. HEAVEN IS FOR REAL seems to be a more prestige Christian entry with a bigger budget, a couple of Oscar nominees in the cast, slick heartland lensing, and a lush score by Mick Glennie-Smith. HEAVEN IS FOR REAL is not a movie for skeptics. They’ll find it naïve and superficial and may be highly suspicious of Todd Burpo’s motives and personal gain. But all the critic eye-rolling and snarking likely to greet the film won’t matter to its target audience, the ones that made the book a hit, and they will leave the film with big smiles on their faces. Not just because it will reaffirm their faith but also because it has an emotional story with an adorable little boy at its center (who almost dies!) and some church singin’. It serves as a reminder of the great love of family and has a comforting message about what is important in our lives.

HEAVEN IS FOR REAL is anchored by a terrific, hardworking performance from Greg Kinnear who’s required to pull off a tricky role. Except for the Heaven sequences, Todd is almost always on screen – it’s really his story. He’s a bit of a saint and he’s given a lot of dialog and speeches but Kinnear brings a likeable bit of Jimmy Stewart to the part as he deals with his own George Bailey-like adversities. Kelly Reilly, a sexy actress I admired in FLIGHT, is good as Mrs. Burpo, though almost too smokin’ hot to pull off country plain. Thomas Hayden Church and Margo Martindale offer moral support in concerned supporting roles. HEAVEN IS FOR REAL is not a great movie but if you take it for what it is: a sweet story of the love of parents for their child and a look at the care of Christians for each other in times of crisis, you may admire it.

3 of 5 Stars

The Burpos