I always feel awkward when reviewing Christian-themed films. As a believer, I like seeing films with good morals and lessons. These elements are found throughout secular cinema but not in a faith-driven way. Sadly, most Hollywood films oversimplify religious characters either as naïve goody-goodies or hypocrites full of fire and brimstone. A rare find is the thinking-man’s Christian film. Letters to God is most definitely not that film and, frankly, works against any progress Christian studios have made in recent years.
Eight year old Tyler Doherty (Tanner Maguire) struggles to fight off cancer and writes letters to God as a coping mechanism. These letters fall into the hands of an alcoholic mailman named Brady (Jeffrey Johnson). At first, he is amused by the devotion of ‘the sick kid on his route’ but as he reads Tyler’s letters, he begins to care for the boy and helps out the family when he can. Tyler’s mom (Robyn Lively), brother (Michael Bolten), and his best friend (Bailey Madison) help keep Tyler’s spirit bright while Bradey comes to grips with his own life and spirituality.
My biggest gripe about Christian cinema is that it is almost always presents Christian life in an unrealistic manner that is eagerly spoon-fed to those already fervent in their beliefs. True to form, Letters to God provides little or no approach vector for someone who is not an overzealous evangelical or willing to suspend their disbelief even further just because it’s a Christian film. There’s also the ‘based on a true story’ setup to amplify things even though research reveals (as it does a majority of the time) that this film is very loosely based on a true story.
Two things are propping this film up. First, the filmmakers know who their audience is and they accordingly milk it for all its worth. For this very specific minority of the population, Letters to God is a home run. Second, I like the concept of this film. Child with cancer helps everyone around him find the bigger meaning of it all? That’s pretty cool. If only the technical aspects of the film didn’t suck.
The writing is cheesy and horribly awkward at times. Shots linger on for longer than necessary. There are countless Christian movie clichés crammed into the reels. None of the actors except Maguire make their characters feel organic and believable. Elements of the story are preposterous (all the interconnectedness of nearly every major and supporting character in the film), creepy (who lets the mailman play with their kids?), or far too convenient.
Christian filmmakers continue to complain that they are not taken seriously. It’s true, but if they’re not willing to do anything about it, then Christian films will always be low-budget affairs reminiscent of bad Hallmark Channel movies. I almost want to call this film polarizing but that’s not the right word for it. Even if you dislike Letters to God, it’s not bad enough to hate. Or, if you’re like me, you’ll find yourself rooting for this film to be better than you know it’s going to turn out to be.
While waiting for this film to entertain me, the darndest thing happened- the credits rolled. That’s my cynical take on Adam Sandler’s first “comedic” offering in 2011. A more balanced approach would go something like this: Just Go with It is an uninspired film suffering from lazy writing and made worse by performances by all but one of its stars.
Adam Sandler stars as Danny, a plastic surgeon in LA. When picking up girls, he pretends to be stuck in an unhappy marriage. Lo and behold, Danny finally meets “the one”- Palmer (Brooklyn Decker). Trouble is, she doesn’t want to be any part of what she thinks is adultery. Instead of coming clean, Danny tells her he is getting divorced from his wife soon. This leads Danny to go to extremes to sell the ruse. For a fee, he enlists the services of his single-mom receptionist (Jennifer Aniston) and her kids, but gets much more than he bargained for.
The first and most critical mistake made here is Danny’s characterization. I know we live in morally ambiguous times but there’s absolutely nothing likeable about a man pretending to be unhappily married to attract women. The fact that he is willing to use a nice woman and her children to that very end is borderline reprehensible. Oh sure, there’s a good natured twist at the end of it all but that ending is so obvious from the start that the journey is hardly worthy of the final destination.
The script is full of the kind of situational gags, physical comedy and toilet humor Sandler fans have come to expect. Sandler, however, appears to run on autopilot through the entire film. It’s hard to tell if he is bored with the film or if he’s forgotten that it takes effort (not just his presence) to produce comedy. In her first film role, it is clear that Brooklyn Decker is more accustomed to strutting around in bikinis than acting. Paper-thin as her character may be, Decker fails to do more than look pretty.
Jennifer Aniston, however, saves the film. Instead of trapping herself in the confines of romantic comedies and roles too serious for audiences to accept her in, Aniston lets her hair down and seems to be having a ball here. Her character’s frustration with Sandler brings out the best from her natural sass and charm. She gets and delivers the best lines in the film.
Despite Aniston’s best efforts, Just Go with It falls flat. Having made his millions already and ventured into more challenging roles recently, it seems Sandler is content to ride the coattails of his own success here. Unfortunately for him, the fact that he is in the film does not automatically make it funny. Aniston’s solid performance cannot win out over Sandler’s weak performance and Decker’s non-performance, leaving you with only a couple of giggles and an occasional chuckle, but never any hearty laughs. This is simply not acceptable from a comedy.
I always feel awkward when reviewing Christian-themed films. As a believer, I like seeing films with good morals and lessons. These elements are found throughout secular cinema but not in a faith-driven way. Sadly, most Hollywood films oversimplify religious characters either as naïve goody-goodies or hypocrites full of fire and brimstone. A rare find is the thinking-man’s Christian film. Letters to God is most definitely not that film and, frankly, works against any progress Christian studios have made in recent years.
