Heaven Is for Real 2014

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: The makers of "Heaven Is for Real'' should have had the faith to let audiences decide whether little Colton is telling the truth about his near-death experience without resorting to the digital equivalent of dry ice. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: Leaves you feeling the film has somehow missed its mark, copping out with a mealymouthed, almost relativistic reading of the cosmic conundrum it has presented us with ... Read more

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club: Unfortunately, Heaven Is For Real isn't really a movie about religion so much as an attempt to appeal to the broadest possible audience of conservative evangelicals. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Although it has some serious flaws, it rises above genre fare, thanks to Greg Kinnear's intriguing performance and the work of a good cast. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: The faithful should welcome it warmly. Others may come away unconvinced while appreciating the film's sincerity and lack of anti-secular axes being ground. Read more

David Martindale, Dallas Morning News: Heaven Is for Real is the kind of movie that will give faith-based filmmaking a good name. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: One of the finest achievements of director Randall Wallace's smartly crafted family film is the way Todd Burpo becomes the story's most driven and sincere doubter. Read more

Adam Markovitz, Entertainment Weekly: There's no antagonist, no resolution, and no real climax - just a series of mildly charming scenes in which Colton shares heavenly knowledge while his family reacts with awestruck tears. Read more

Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter: Unlikely to convert any skeptics, but if they wander into the multiplex, they'll find that that the prettily photographed sermon goes down easily. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: It is the rapport between Kinnear and the boy that really holds the film together. They make the father-son relationship believable in a way that grounds "Heaven" and gives it some of its best moments. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: A supposedly true story that uses faulty logic to reduce the complexity of faith to a fairy-tale. By rights, it should displease atheists and believers alike. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: This heavy-handed movie is simply a sermon its makers think we all should hear. Read more

Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times: Preachy and pretty, "Heaven" is a classy-looking product with a vanilla flavor and a pastel palette. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: This is a big-tent Christian film that wriggles around a lot seeking to accommodate multiple varieties of religious experience, and ends up terminally infected with the virus of postmodern relativism. Read more

David Lewis, San Francisco Chronicle: The images of heaven somehow diminish the impact of the boy's experience, perhaps because heaven is just too profound for anyone to film. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Given its declarative title, "Heaven Is for Real" should have built a more convincing case. Read more

Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times: Kinnear does an excellent job of capturing Burpo's obvious dilemma and the turmoil he and his wife endure as they work through this critical time in the life of their family. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Heaven is For Real stops feeling like a drama and more like an illustrated religious pamphlet. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Kinnear ... remains a consistent screen presence, even if the material he's been handed lately rarely matches his talents. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: A well-acted, family-friendly and timely movie for Easter audiences that is just as much about appreciating life on Earth as it is about what comes after. Read more

Jessica Herndon, Associated Press: We might have expected more from writer-director Randall Wallace, who brought us the Oscar-nominated "Braveheart." But the material is pretty cookie-cutter and more typical of an afterschool special. Read more

Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice: Unlike many of the features targeted to what Hollywood is calling the "faith audience," the movie is well-acted and shot, often thoughtful and (intentionally) funny. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Whatever works. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: What could have been merely a feel-good exercise in Eschatology Lite instead becomes a wholesome but also surprisingly tough-minded portrait of a man wrestling with his faith. Read more