Community outreach echoes a chorus of faith. Hello moviegoers, “Heaven Is for Real” tells the true story of the Burpos’ a christian family from the small town of Imperial, Nebraska, who’s four year old son Colton (Connor Corum) has an out of body experience during an operation to have his appendix removed. The movie is based on the book of the same name and the events that both the book and the movie chronicle took place during 2003.
‘Heaven Is for Real’ (2 ½ sweet potatoes out of four) Stars: Greg Kinnear, Kelly Reilly, Connor Corum, Lane Styles, Margo Martindale, Thomas Haden Church; Director: Randall Wallace; Genre: Drama; Rated: PG; Runtime: 100 minutes; Opens: Wednesday, April 16, 2014.
Pastor Todd Burpo played by (Greg Kinnear) who shows commanding presence at the pulpit is a pillar of the community. He and wife Sonja played by Kelly Reilly are parents to Cassie played by (Lane Styles) and her younger brother Colton who is played brilliantly and with the innocence of his youth by (Connor Corum).
After returning from a trip to Denver, Colorado, Colton grows increasingly ill and has to be rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. With her son’s survival in doubt and fearing the worst, Kelly Burpo calls on one of the church leaders Nancy Rawling, played by (Margo Martindale), for prayer. The word quickly spreads across the tightknit community and all respond with prayer for little Colton’s safe recovery.
Colton does make a fully recovered, and one day his dad and he are at the park when Colton starts to speak of being in heaven and sitting on Jesus’ lap while he was in surgery. But, it is not until Colton beings to recall events that he shouldn’t have any knowledge of, that his dad really begins to wonder, even question his own faith.
Growing attention to Colton’s story, unsure sermons from the pulpit by Todd that begin to have an adverse effect on the church and mounting financial difficulty threaten the stability of the deeply religious Burpo family. But to get through this turmoil, the Burpos will have to find away through their faith to rally around young Colton and each other.
‘Heaven Is for Real’ has a good cast that also comes with (Thomas Haden Church) as the dry-humor local banker. A supportive soundtrack and familiar tunes from the choir made the movie easier for me to consume than it was for many of the parishioners of the church to deals with Colton’s visit to heaven. I give ‘Heaven Is for Real’ 2 ½ sweet potatoes out of four.
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