Les Miracles du ciel

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 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.

My wife and I rate movies on enjoyment. We generally try to see critically acclaimed movies that we hope we will enjoy. Miracles from Heaven, while not critically acclaimed, is a movie that was described as heartwarming and feel good. We like both, so we went to see it, even though we are non-believers.

It's a very well done movie with good production values. The filming is outstanding. The two leads, Jennifer Garner and Kylie Rogers give very credible performances. While the movie didn't convert us, Kylie's discussion of her belief in Jesus to a girl suffering from cancer in the hospital brought tears to my eyes.

If you are a believer and like movies, this is the one to go see. That doesn't mean that all others should avoid it. We both were raised Christian and we have many devout Christians in our extended family. This may explained why we are open to movies like this. However, I did come out wondering when all the children suffering in Syria are going to get their miracle.

'MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A faith-based Christian drama flick, adapted from the memoir (of the same name) by Christy Beam. Beam tells the story of her 10-year-old daughter; who suffered from an incurable disease, and then was suddenly cured from it (after having a near-death experience). The movie deals with Christy's struggles with her faith, while coping with her daughter's tragic illness. Jennifer Garner stars in the film, as Christy Beam, and it costars Kylie Rogers, Martin Henderson, Eugenio Derbez and Queen Latifah. It was directed by Patricia Riggen (who also helmed 'THE 33', last year), and it was scripted by Randy Brown (who also wrote 2012's 'TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE'). The movie only received mixed reviews from critics, but it did surprisingly well at the Box Office (where viewers raved about it). I enjoyed it as well.

The story takes place in Burleson, Texas (in 2011). Christy Beam (Garner), and her husband Kevin (Henderson), are devastated to learn that one of their daughters, 10-year-old Anna (Rogers), suffers from pseudo-obstruction motility disorder. The disease makes it so Anna is unable to consume food, without tubes. It's also deadly, and incurable. Christy doesn't understand how this could have happened, to her Christian family (that always goes to church regularly). She struggles to keep her faith, and then is amazed to learn of her daughter's miraculous recovery (possibly because of it).

I was raised strictly Catholic, and I always attended church regularly (as a child), so I'm always interested in any movies that deal with religion. I'm not usually that impressed, with the average 'overly preachy' ones (that mostly just 'preach to the choir'), but this one is really well made. Garner's performance is amazing, and Riggen's direction is equally as impressive. The movie seems a little clichéd, and gimmicky, but for the most part it's pretty emotional (I cried multiple times). It's also kind of inspiring. The film is actually one of those rare Christian movies that's worth the time to watch!

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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