We could all use a little faith.
Decent gray comedy, not too dark, not too bright, but sadly plenty dull at times. It’s hard to capture American film audience’s attention for an hour and forty minutes when nothing really exciting is happening. This was a feel-good piece that really takes a long time to develop, but it never fails to intrigue. What would you do if something miraculous decided to plop itself smack dab in the middle of your life? Would you accept the gift with open arms, or would you refuse to believe and stubbornly fight to have it removed? You’ll have to decide on that one – but, sides are clearly taken watching this film . . . do you believe?
Luke Wilson casually meanders throughout the film as Henry Poole, a man with a short amount of time left to enjoy the miracles surrounding him. Henry soon swoons over his new neighbor Dawn (Radha Mitchell) and in God’s cruelest joke discovers love at the final hour just as a mysterious image of Jesus appears on his poorly stuccoed cottage – blocks from the home he grew up in. George Lopez and Cheryl Hines have small but important cameos in developing the Poole character, but the scene-stealer would have to be Morgan Lily as the mute, quirky daughter of Dawn, Millie. She enters into the film in a mysterious manner and though she has no voice, her silence echoes beautifully.
The acting style was a little mechanical at times and plodding, but certain characters like grocery clerk Patience (Rachel Seiferth)stand out. Nothing spectacular really ever happens in the film, it leaves a lot to be desired really. I wasn’t expecting much, but I wanted more development of at least the lead characters – which really didn’t happen. This was another Netflix renter, so I wasn’t too disappointed. Still, I wouldn’t recommend it to most of my friends either.
