"Miracles from Heaven" Tones Down Religion, Amps Up Star Power

Faith-based movie "Miracles From Heaven," starring Jennifer Garner and Queen Latifah, opened on March 16tth.  According to some moviegoers, in an effort to reach audiences beyond the Christian church-goers, the movie has been criticized for ramping up the star power and tamping down the evangelical messages. 

According to DeVon Franklin, one of the producers of "Miracles from Heaven," a film labeled as faith-based may turn off some watchers. There are those who think such movies are too preachy or are of "lower quality."  

Another of the movie's producers, Pastor T.D. Jakes agrees, "It's the way people think when you use labels that is the barrier. It's not necessarily the film, but the image that comes up in people's minds... It suggests a discrimination that was not intended. We didn't do this film just for people of faith. We did this film for everybody." 

The film is based on the true-to-life experience of Christy Beam and tells how her young daughter miraculously recovered from a rare illness when she took a horrific fall. The movie stars Jennifer Garner and Queen Latifah, and is produced by DeVon Franklin. 

Set in Burleson, Texas, in 2011, the film centers on a 12-year-old girl named Anna (Kylie Rogers), daughter of Christy Beam (Jennifer Garner). Anna is suffering from a pseudo-obstruction motility disorder and is unable to eat, using feeding tubes for nutrition. One day, she has a near-death experience, after falling into the hollow of a tree and suffering only scratches. When she is subsequently examined at Boston Children's Hospital, no evidence of the chronic illness is found,  Everything changes in an instant when Anna tells an amazing story of a visit to heaven after surviving a headlong tumble into a tree. Her family and doctors become even more baffled when the young girl begins to show signs of recovering from her fatal condition. 

The film was directed by Patricia Riggen and produced by Joe Roth, T.D. Jakes and DeVon Franklin, the same producing team behind Heaven Is for Real. That film, directed by Randall Wallace, became one of the profitable movies at the studio last year, grossing $101.3M on a relatively small budget.The book Miracles From Heaven (Hachette) was written by Christy Beam, the mother of the girl, and adapted by Randy Brown (Trouble With The Curve) who is repped by Anonymous, UTA and attorney David Fox.

 

 

 

Tags : miracles from heaven miracles from heaven movie trailer miracles from heaven movie miracles from heaven film