Miracles from Heaven

Miracles From Heaven is directed by Patricia Riggen and stars Jennifer Garner as the mother of a sick child named Anna, played by Kylie Rogers. The child is diagnosed with a rare disease that doesn't allow her body to digest food. Stay away from the trailers for this movie if you plan on seeing it; they spoil the entire film. That's all I'm going to say, because I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone.

I was somewhat excited about seeing Miracles From Heaven, but I was expecting the movie to be as the trailers said it would be, and it was a completely different movie, despite it still being pretty good. The marketing team for this movie should really be fired, because the advertisement for Miracles From Heaven was marketing a separate movie. The film does have some flaws, but it was good overall.

My favorite thing about Miracles From Heaven was the performances given by the actors that play the little girl's parents, that being Jennifer Garner as the mother and Martin Henderson as the father. These two did pretty great together, and made a very believable married couple that are struggling with their ability to cope with the sickness that their daughter has. Although I wish the film went a bit deeper into their conflicted relationship based on stress and disagreements, both actors did very well, and deserve some recognition by receiving future roles.

Having said that about the two parents, and the actors that played them, not many other characters, or actors, stand out. Most of the other actors do fine, and don't really have anything special to do with their screen time, while also not exactly doing bad. Queen Latifah was marketed as playing a big character in this film (her name is on the poster), yet her character was given a good amount of depth, and then forgot about by the script. Her character just disappears from the film entirely, and it was pretty disappointing, to be honest.

Kylie Rogers, who plays Anna, the sick little girl, does pretty good. Her performance isn't very distinctive, but she does okay for a little girl. Both of her sisters seem like wasted characters overall. I really wish the film would've dived into the difficulties that the sisters were dealing with, as in having a very sick sister, but it didn't. The sisters, played by Brighton Sharbino and Courtney Fansler, were partially wasted as characters that could've been interesting.

The direction was pretty good. No shots really stood out as good or bad, and the overall camera work did what it should've done, it just wasn't as interesting as it could've been. The script was pretty nice, with some very good dialogue at points, and some pretty bland dialogue at others. There were a couple different subplots that really should've been either cut out, or given more attention to, that were kind of stuck in between the two, and those elements are what dragged the story down.

The absolute worst thing about Miracles From Heaven is the pacing, particularly with the time jumps. There are more than enough time jumps, yet the film fails to explain how much time has passed. Coming out of the theater, I didn't know whether or not the film's setting lasted 6 months or 6 years. These time jumps really pulled the movie down by an entire letter grade (or so), and was pretty underwhelming.

Other than the few complaints I mentioned, I liked just about everything about Miracles From Heaven. It didn't get too preachy, and was constructed as a film pretty well. I'd recommend Miracles From Heaven to anyone who can handle watching something somewhat sad, because there are a couple sentimental moments.

I will only say this; if you have kids of your own you will cry to the point where the floor is completely filled with tissues. My eyes are so swollen right now, I can hardly see what I'm writing :D

I just saw this movie yesterday and I am a Christian. I think that is important to mention because there will be some people who simply don't like the movie because they don't like Christian films. So here is my honest review: When I first saw the trailer I thought this movie was going to be decent, but not great. I thought it would probably be the formulaic Christian film that most of us have seen over and over again. Most of these films have flat Christian characters put in tough circumstances that never cause them to truly struggle with their faith, which is why most people find Christian films to be unrealistic. This is not the case with Miracles from Heaven.

This film has incredible performances by the entire cast, especially Jennifer Garner and Kylie Rogers. The film perfectly balances the story with aspects of faith. The core of this story is about a mother suffering with her daughter's pain and health. What I was not expecting was to feel as though I was a part of this story. The film immersed me in what it would be like to be going through this struggle. This movie will make you cry in the sad moments and in the happy moments because you will feel as though this is your family. That is why this film transcends other Christian films. The moments where God is mentioned don't feel as though they are forced and preachy. Those moments are carefully woven and important to the family's journey through a terrible illness. It surpassed my expectations.

That's why I recommend going to see it. "Miracles are God's way of showing us that He's here." - Miracles from Heaven

I went to see this movie with five others and we all agreed that it is an excellent film. The fact that we stood around talking about it afterwords and "debriefing" tells you something. The film has a few powerful messages whether one has any kind of faith or not. I would encourage everyone young and old to take the opportunity to see it as it is a must see. Refreshing to see a movie that holds one's attention without violence, bad language and negative outcomes. On the contrary, this was a message of hope and a wonderful story of a family and their struggles with illness, money and their faith. The acting was AMAZING from every character. The critics got it WRONG so WRONG. Go.see.this.movie.

Such a light hearted movie with a good screenplay & a well written story . Well actually it's based on true events & that's what makes the movie special .This movie focuses on miracles that can happen in your life that can change . I actually believe that luck also plays its part in it .