Christian Faith = You Get What You Want

Rating: 5/10 (30 April 2015)

Other reviewers who have said this movie does not hit you over the head with its message of faith are correct. It is more subtle than most of the so-called faith-based movies out there. Furthermore, there really is much to like about this movie, from the outstanding performance of the young Jakob Salvati to the anti-bullying and anti-racism themes. And the anguish of the priest, played beautifully by Tom Wilkinson, who wants to encourage "Little Boy"'s faith but who knows that prayers often go unfulfilled, gives the film a more realistic feel than it might have had. In fact, had the movie ended when it "should" have, after the first of its two "endings," I could have lived with the message that faith helps you get through hard times and I would have given the film a 7. But no, the movie had to cave in to the demands of its Christian creators and send us away with the false message that if your faith is strong enough, it will bring you whatever you ask for. This is what the faithful desperately want to believe, so when the movie tells them that yes, it is true, of course they go wild in their effusive praise. There is a good movie locked inside this Christian fable. It's too bad it wasn't allowed to escape.