Faith Based movies continue to march to quality filmmaking. Previously, movies like this were low budget pablum designed to pull money from Christians and deliver nothing but pandering. However, something good has been happening over the past few years, where the manipulative messaging has become more subtle, and quality actors have been making the movie more palatable to mainstream audiences. I Can Only Imagine is another step in the right direction, and earns some of the tears it is going for in telling the backstory of this fantastic MercyMe song.
The song, same as the movie’s title, comes from MercyMe’s lead singer Bart Millard (J. Michael Finley), who claims he wrote this in 10 minutes. The inspiration for the song comes from Bart’s relationship with his father Arthur (Dennis Quaid). Dad isn’t exactly a kind man, damaged from traumatic events; he takes out his frustration on Bart, who, encouraged by high school sweetheart Shannon (Madeline Carroll), starts singing and succeeding in the glee club. Inspired by his success, Bart goes on the road and finds his band and a manager (Trace Adkins). However, to grow as a band, Bart realizes he needs to face his demons and hopefully forgive his father, who has been undergoing some changes himself.
I sincerely hope the beginnings of these movies are the next fix the faith based films take on. In general I really try to go in with an open mind into a movie, but I was rolling my eyes early and often in I Can Only Imagine. Kids in these type of films must go to Oprah’s school for becoming a sage or preacher, because the 8-11 year olds speak with the wisdom of someone near retirement, which reeks of BS manipulation. The casting of J. Michael Finley isn’t great early on either, since he clearly looks 35 years old and Madeline Carroll looks 22ish, and they’re both supposed to be in high school and the same age. I cringed more than a few times watching them together. Also, characters that would seem important to Bart (his black drama teacher, his black best friend, his band members) are barely given any influence in his life, but Bart keeps insisting how important they all are to him. These shortcomings come from the biggest pitfall of a film like this: the message is so important it has to be told to the audience early and often, instead of trusting that your audience is smart enough to figure it out.
Also not helping was the fact that J. Michael Finley isn’t a talented enough actor to carry Bart’s legitimately compelling story. Thankfully, I think the directors know this, and surround him with two terrific supporting roles that give the second half of the movie power. Trace Adkins continues to be a revelation for me; the guy has stepped into Sam Elliott’s shoes and exudes respect and a larger than life presence with that booming southern voice. As MercyMe’s manager, his monologues carry weight, so all Finley has to do is look inspired around the guy, which is pretty easy to do. The smartest casting is Dennis Quaid, since the song’s inspiration and success of the movie require the audience to root for the mending of Bart and Arthur’s relationship. Quaid can play world weary in his sleep, and thankfully it looks like he’s really giving it his all here. The third act strips away the fluff and focuses on Bart and Arthur trying to mend their fractured relationship; Quaid carries those scenes given Arthur’s backstory, saying a lot by saying little. Finley then just has to stoically stare and occasionally tear up, which isn’t too hard a task for the newcomer to pull off. Thankfully, those scenes are good enough that when time comes to play the song, I Can Only Imagine sticks the landing by SHOWING us why the music is important, instead of telling us that it is. I heard lots of sniffles, so I know the movie did something right.
I’m rooting for these faith based films to continue to get better. I’ve seen firsthand the power of faith and how it can be used to help overcome overwhelming difficulties, and there’s a big enough audience out there that deserves a quality film that can be both good and affirming to what they believe in. Because as it stands today, The Conjuring is the best faith based movie I have seen so far, probably not what you were thinking right? I can only imagine…