Anything Is Possible

I bought this film from a Christian bookstore thinking that it was a Christian film. The 5 "Dove" rating on the front is apparently only an indication of the quality of the content and not the quality of the message.

After watching the film, it was clear that the movie was not a Christian film. It was clean, but it only glorified humanism and the power of the human spirit. Not once is God even mentioned, and there is no mention of God being the source of the young boys talent. The "faith" mentioned in the film is so ambiguous its practically meaningless. All of the key messages in the film point to humanism and self empowerment. There is no mention of Jesus, not even a nod or an allusion, no scripture, nothing - not even a trite Christian cliché.

The whole child prodigy thing is great. Squeaky clean. The movie drags and meanders something awful. Decent acting in parts. Cute kids. Feel good message, but powerless.

When you just want to watch a feel good show. This is a movie for you. I was hoping that there was going to be a happy ending. This wasn't a deep thinking movie, just a nice make you feel good show.

If you want great acting, then this isn't your movie. If you want a great plot or even a realistic one, same answer. But if you like movies with kids and a good piano performance, then this is a fun movie.

100% sappy. Maybe 10% realistic. After Lacey Chabert who is barely in this, and Jonathan Bennett, most of the adult actors are like they are in community theater. Some of the kids aren't bad. The story is a little slow and very predictable, but it's heartwarming.

But the total gem in this movie is 12 year old Ethan Bortnick. He plays a prodigy and he comes off a little like a savant and maybe even as very high functioning autistic. But his piano playing is golden. He performs several piano numbers at length, and a couple are repeated more than once. But remember it is the kid playing, not someone else, and what's more, he wrote the original songs he plays. He even sings. This is someone who has performed on national TV.

The kids have fun. Almost everyone in the movie is encouraging. But this is not a religious movie. If anything the theme is - you can do anything if you believe in yourself.

Brilliant movie, very touching. It makes no sense that this movie is only rated by 70 people, I just don't get it. I love the actors, especially Ethan Bortnick (and Jonathan Bennett but it's probably just ass well because he looks so damn good...), though I think they could have been more convincing in the reuniting scenes. I love the music! First time he played for real, I was just like, WHAT?! Where the hell did that come from? And Bortnick is just so perfect for the role, I mean, even his voice is great. I feel really talentless right now. I don't normally write reviews, but I just had to do it when nobody else had done it, because this is really a great movie and it is really worth a watch. If you like movies like August Rush, you will definitely like this movie too.

Like everyone says, I don't post reviews much. I actually don't. Recently got the Dove Channel and this aired. A few faces are familiar amongst the cast. A military family torn apart when the mother is MIA. True, child services will not come out of the blue with a missing parent, just because the one home did not finish adoption papers. This does not take away from the message of faith, hope, and love with kindness. Dove is known for Christian movies. I prefer the subtle messages. People helping each other, not loosing faith, loving each other. The words God, Jesus, and such are not said. Rather the christian message is shown by action. I wish Detroit was more like the way it is depicted here. The movie holds up over the decade. A great family movie with a beautiful message. The title Anything is Possible is very fitting. By far the astonishing thing in this movie is the totle character, played by a 10 year old Ethan. This piano prodigy makes your jaw drop. He played the piano in the movie, sang all the songs throughout and along with an accomplished adult, wrote all the music in this film. As a musician and teacher, it gives all the feels. I had just gotten a keyboard at his age. I cannot imagine playing that perfectly and composing. I know will be looking him up to see where he is now, 11 years later.