Miracles from Heaven

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Patricia Riggen/Starring: Jennifer Garner, Kylie Rogers, Martin Henderson, Queen Latifah, Eugenio Derbez and John Carroll Lynch

When I first saw the trailer to director Patricia Riggen's Miracles from Heaven, I thought the syrupy drama/earnestly spiritual story would be an ideal punching bag for this usually fair-minded blogger. After all, I hadn't beaten up on anything in awhile and was itching to bully some poor, unfortunate, shamelessly hokey film. If you've seen the trailer or movie, you too might feel it had it coming. But after seeing the film, I began to feel like a hungry mastiff picking on a toy poodle. Yes, the movie is a schmaltzy eye-roller but does that give me the right to pick on a movie about a terminally sick girl who hasn't long to live and who is as sweet as cotton candy? A girl whose mother will sacrifice everything to keep her living one more day? A girl whose family is so spiritual they host post-Sunday-service gatherings at their home and make the Apostles look like seedy, creepy, jail-house rapists?
Pause for conscience check...

Yeah, what the hell.

Based on author Christy Beam's book of the same name, Miracles from Heaven is a purportedly true story about said terminally ill little girl and her struggle to survive her dire predicament. But the movie isn't just about her seemingly miraculous story but also the mother; Christy Beam (played in earnest overdrive by Jennifer Garner); who never gave up searching for a cure for her daughter. Of course a movie that is practically a billboard for faith usually has a character whose faith is tried in adversity and comes to doubt God's plans. Beam makes an ideal candidate.

Kylie Rogers, who plays Anna Beam with a God's-little-soldier sincerity, feels sharp pains in her abdomen. Her parents; Christy and Kevin (Martin Henderson), begin to worry about Anna's inability to keep food down and her frequent bouts of nausea. After seeing several specialists--all who insist Anna is fine--Christy begins to despair and worse, begins to lose her faith in the higher power she has heretofore never questioned. Though her husband remains unwaveringly faithful, she quite rightly questions why God would visit such horrible suffering on her innocent child. The question is also posed to the community's spiritual leader; Pastor Scott (John Carroll Lynch), who can offer her no succor or satisfactory answer.

Becoming angry and frustrated with doctors who misdiagnose Anna's problem and who virtually ignore her distended stomach, Christy learns of a gastroenterologist specializing in children's illnesses in Boston named Dr. Nurko; a sought after physician whose waiting list is a year long. With Anna in tow, Christy flies to Boston hoping to secure an appointment. Though Christy's efforts to see the doctor are Herculean, she is nevertheless rebuffed. And while Boston proves to be a fruitless endeavor, Christy and Anna meet an African-American woman named Angela (Queen Latifah, in the most thankless, useless and forgettable role of her career) who befriends them and for one day becomes their Bostonian tour-guide.

After returning to Texas, Anna's condition worsens while Christy's faith ebbs further. A chance opening in his schedule brings Christy and Anna back to Boston, where they finally meet Dr. Nurko (Eugenio Derbez). We immediately see from his bedside manner and requisite Elmo tie that his rapport with the children is that of Patch Adams; in other words; superhumanly swell and caring. But though Dr. Nurko offers his expert diagnosis--Anna's lower intestines are twisted, leaving her unable to digest food--he can do little for her but make her comfortable.

The two return to Texas as Christy and Kevin's anxieties swell. A pivotal moment in the film unfolds when Anna and one of her sisters climb a tree in the family's yard (the phoniest-looking tree seen on film since The Wizard of Oz.) When the branch begins to give way, Anna tries to reach the safety of the trunk only to fall inside its hollow interior. A major rescue operation is undertaken and an unconscious Anna is rushed to the hospital. But she recovers from her fall and days after being released, Christy and Kevin notice her distended abdomen has vanished. They immediately return to Dr. Nurko, who finds she has miraculously recovered but cannot account for her cure. Lacking an explanation, he attributes her recovery to what is commonly referred to as spontaneous remission. Ecstatic, Christy says to Dr. Nurko; "you're saying that my little girl fell from the tree, hit her head just right and was suddenly cured...well Doctor, that's impossible." A more pertinent statement might have been; "you're saying God gave my daughter a horrific intestinal condition, ensured she suffered horribly, then made her fall from a tree, nearly breaking her neck, at which point he finally tossed her a bone and cured her...well Doctor, that's the Almighty for you..." But that statement never crossed her mouth.

As we might expect, happiness is showered on the Beam family. And is Christy's faith restored? Well, golly-gee, what do you think?

Of course the real reason for this film to exist is to push the God-did-it solution for Anna's problem. Anna explains to her mother and father that during her tree ordeal, she had an out of body experience, followed by the white tunnel thing and ultimately, contact with his divine-ness, who told her she would be healed. No one seems to consider the possibility that the experience was a hallucination caused by an oxygen deficiency to the brain. No, God intervened and saved the Beam's precious little ray of sunshine (but all the Syrian children who have drowned trying to migrate to Europe are hardly a consideration in the Creator's skull apparently.).

An absurd waste of celluloid like Miracles of Heaven has enough production value to pass for a feature film but movies of this ilk (Heaven is for Real and God is Not Dead) exist only to push the Word; entertainment is an afterthought. What distinguishes this film from the aforementioned is its cast, which has enough name actors to pass for a movie. I can't help but feel sorry for Jennifer Garner and Queen Latifah, who must somehow sell characters that have not a ice-cube-in-hell's chance of being taken for real people, though they represent real people. I give credit for Garner for doing her best not to condescend to the material even though playing it straight and earnest didn't do her performance much good. I can only hope her paycheck was sweet.

The only film that will most likely be worse than this toe-jam is the forthcoming God is Not Dead 2. So many films in this Season of Swill dealing with Christ and God and not one of them worth a damn...actually, they are worth damnation.
This film should only be played in places of worship during Sunday services, not multiplex screens; otherwise, someone might get the impression the film means to entertain rather than proselytize. If this flick really is a Miracle from Heaven, then what do you call a curse from Hell?

The 33

Director: Patricia Riggen/Starring: Antonio Banderas, Lou Diamond Phillips, Juliette Binoche, Kate de Castillo, Gabriel Byrne, Rodrigo Santoro and James Brolin

The 2010 Copiapo Mining Accident in Chile's Atacama Desert, where 33 miners were trapped for 69 days underground, riveted the world and became a headline mainstay. A concerted effort by engineers and mining personnel from around the world made a difficult rescue possible. Malnourished and weak, the men were supplied--by way of drilling--with food, water, clothes and electronic devices to enable the miners to maintain contact with their rescuers and loved ones. The miner's struggle to stay alive in a dangerous environment and the rescue effort that followed soon after, were made possible through ingenuity and the human spirit. A film version of such an incredible story deserves a powerful telling but though director Patricia Riggen's The 33 dramatizes the accident and the rescue, it fails--in spite of its well-meaning efforts--to capture the suspense and danger of the miner's seemingly hopeless struggle underground and the desperate attempt to rescue them above ground.

Like the real-life multinational effort that made the rescue possible, the film-makers have called upon an international cast that includes Juliette Binoche, Antonio Banderas, Kate de Castillo, Rodrigo Santoro and Gabriel Byrne to portray Chileans, with mixed results. Though it's hardly a stretch for Castillo, Banderas and Santoro to sound Chilean, the accent proves unwieldy for Byrne and Binoche, whose best efforts come to naught.

The mine caves in after the 33 miners begin what seems like a typical day below ground. Among the crew is a Bolivian, whose shabby treatment becomes an issue later. We get background on some of the miners. One miner's love-life is shambles as his mistress and his wife vie for his attentions. Another fights alcoholism while yet another is only days from retirement.

After the mine collapse, which is caused by a slab of rock twice the mass of the Empire State Building, the way in and out of the mine is obstructed; leaving them cut-off from the surface. The foreman assigned to oversee miner safety; Don Lucho (Lou Diamond Phillips) becomes consumed by guilt; believing he has failed in his job. Though Lucho's position as foreman gives him authority in the mine; a miner named Mario Sepulveda (Antonio Banderas) becomes de facto leader. It is Sepulveda's stubborn optimism that lifts the miner's spirits and their gloomy mood as they face further disasters and almost certain death.

After Sepulveda and another miner discover the ladders leading to the surface were never completed, the other miners prepare for a protracted stay; many believing a rescue will never come.
The miners also begin to think pragmatically as they begin rationing 3-day food supplies.

Above ground, the Minister of Mining; Laurence Golborne (Rodrigo Santoro); petitions Chilean President Pinera (Bob Gunton) for help, reminding him of the government's duty to intervene. Pinera commits government resources to helping the miners, with Golborne directing the effort.

Meanwhile, the miner's wives and girlfriends become a sustained presence at the mines; demanding information about their loved ones and forcefully resisting the mine company's attempts to disperse them. Leading the familial gathering is Maria Segovia (Juliette Binoche), who, like the others, waits impatiently for any news regarding the miners.

Unsure of the miner's fates, Golborne learns a common area in the mines which serves as a living space may be the area where the survivors congregate. Deterred by the slab of stone blocking the entrance, attempts are made to drill down to the miners to provide life-preserving supplies. As days drag into weeks, the rescue attempt draws the attention of the world media; which in turn attracts outside support. A drawn-out rescue operation makes it necessary to summon a state mining engineer named Andre Sougarret (Gabriel Byrne) to assume leadership in the operation. In time, drilling makes it possible to provide much-needed supplies to the men below.

How the miners cope with their predicament provides much of the drama in the film. As one might expect, bickering and petty factionalism take hold briefly before the miners unite in common cause. We see their supplies dwindle to almost nothing as meal portions become minuscule. Fighting despair but losing hope for a rescue, the supplies temporarily lift sagging morale and make it possible for the miners to maintain video contact with the leaders of the rescue. More importantly, the families are able to converse with their wives and children, which boosts spirits all around.

But though life-sustaining supplies bring relief, the problem of actually bringing the miners to the surface creates another problem. Attempts to employ massive drills to create a shaft into the rock are initially unsuccessful as a massive drill bit is shattered. The metallic fragments make a large magnet necessary, which in turn means summoning the necessary implement from Brazil. Sougarret and Golborne realize that every delay means one more day the miners' lives are endangered by the shifting rock in the mine, which also complicates rescue efforts.

As we see news programs from around the world broadcasting the rescue effort, one month underground becomes two. In spite of their dire situation, we see the miners gradually form an unbreakable bond.

After Sougarret and the Chilean government nearly give up the miners for dead, Golborne's determination to rescue the miners reverses what almost becomes full capitulation by all parties involved. With renewed resolve, another attempt is made with the help of an American engineer named Jeff Hart (James Brolin).

As previously mentioned, the accident and subsequent rescue were hardly wanting for suspense, drama and heart-breaking and heart-warming sentiment. But somehow the film only stirs interest rather than giving us a visceral experience. It is competently dramatized but it never leaves us breathless with suspense. Part of the problem may be we know the outcome before hand but the film itself never does much to make the audience forget it knows.

As also previously mentioned, it was difficult to overlook the various accents, particularly Binoche's. Though I highly esteem her as an actress, even she can't overcome a hokey, Chilean accent. She deserves better. Vaudeville accents are the domain of lesser actresses, like Meryl Streep; not French film stars with boundless talent.

I wanted to like the film more but a whiff of Disney seeped into the story. The real-life events ended happily (thank goodness) but the ordeal must have been hell for many involved. It's that hellish aspect that's lacking in The 33. What we're left with is something pretty decent but who pays multiplex prices to see something decent?

What this movie needs is a small screen to make its tepid, emotional output seem gargantuan, which is how I recommend one see the film.

The important thing is the miners survived, with their health intact. A so-so movie about their ordeal is less important in the grand scheme.