So this summer, I've seen a LOT of movies. I saw Iron Man 2 a total 3 times, The Last Airbender, the Karate Kid (the Jayden Smith one), Despicable Me, Sorcerer's Apprenitce, Toy Story 3, Inception twice (maybe a third time!), and Charlie St. Cloud (surprisingly good. I'll definitely post my thoughts of that at some point, probably around its DVD release). None even compete with one I saw tonight: Letters to God.
I first heard of Letters to God about 6 months ago when it made a limited theatrical release .While it didn't touch anywhere near me, my favorite Web publication of all time, http://www.pluggedin.com/, reviewed it being as their a Christian publication connected directly to Focus on the Family. I read the review, thought it sounded nice, and didn't think much more of it. I definitely thought it would be nice to see it being as the producer of Fireproof (a christian flick about the sacredness of marriage I greatly enjoyed) was producer and Director of this.
Then today, as I'm sitting on the couch in extreme oral pain (more on that later) when myMom gets my attention because of an E-mail she received. "Hey Caleb," she says "That Letters to God movie you were telling me about is being advertised by American Family Association (an organization devoted to defending traditional christian family values)." I had mentioned the movie to Mom when we were brainstorming Fundraisers for our adoption as a potential movie night, and had kind of forgotten that. "Oh, I said, that's cool." My mom then viewed the trailer and wanted to see if we could get it from our Netflix account. They had it on instant play and we decided to stream it through our Wii system that night. Before reviewing it though, I'll give you some background.
Tyler's been kind of sick. Well, more than kinda. After 30 chemo treatments and brain surgery, this kid's seen more Hospital days than most Part-time nurses do in years of working there. Through it all, though, he's writing his thoughts and Prayers to God on paper and sending them in the mail to Him. Enter in Brady McDaniels, a messed-up substitute Mail man who's got Tyler on his route. One day, Tyler sweetly hands him one of his Letters and Brady accepts it, a little confused though. "This kid on my route is writing letters. Letters to God. What do you want me to do with them?" he asks his boss. "I don't know, Brady, this is your journey." His boss replies, taking him completely off-guard. When Brady tries to drop the letters and run at the local Christian Church, the pastor catches him and asks if he can pray over him and the "mission" God has given him. Brady slowly starts spending more time talking and playing with Tyler, and makes his way into the hearts of Tyler's Mom, Grandma, and older brother Ben. The movie then plays out across the next couple months as Tyler's family is touched by the Letters he's written to God, and encounters God at every corner, even if they don't always feel it.
This movie was Phenomenal. It shows this truly beautiful soul affecting those around him in beautiful ways, bringing them all closer together. The sheer level of spiritual content makes up for everything the movie could lose points on. At times the acting is a tad campy, the sets a little bit lacking, but for me at least, I became so caught up in all of the Characters, but namely Tyler's spiritual journeys and experiences the film didn't lose any of its impact on me. There was one great dialogue that really stuck though. as Brady sits with his boss on one of the benches outside the church, Brady confesses "I can't keep a grip on life. Everything that I touch turns to dust and slips through my fingers." His boss replies "Well, Brady, put your hands together." Brady does that. "Alright, now intertwine your fingers. Now nothing can be lost." It really seemed like a great metaphor. and how true it is.
Go see Letters to God. Despite the fact you'll be bummed you needed about nine boxes of tissues (you have been warned. This is a tear jerker!) to make it through, you'll be amazed by David Nixon's latest and greatest.
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