A heartfelt tale of inspiration, hope and redemption, Letters to God is the story of what happens when one boy’s walk of faith crosses paths with one man’s search for meaning—the resulting transformational journey touches the lives of everyone around them.
Tyler Doherty (TANNER MAGUIRE) is an extraordinary eight-year-old boy. Surrounded by a loving family and community, and armed with the courage of his faith, he faces his daily battle against cancer with bravery and grace. To Tyler, God is a friend, a teacher and the ultimate pen pal—Tyler’s prayers take the form of letters, which he composes and mails on a daily basis.
The letters find their way into the hands of Brady McDaniels (JEFFREY S.S. JOHNSON), a beleaguered postman standing at a crossroads in his life. At first, he is confused and conflicted over what to do with the letters. Overtime he begins to form a friendship with the Doherty family – getting to know not just Tyler but his tough, tender yet overwhelmed mom (ROBYN LIVELY), stalwart grandmother (MAREE CHEATHAM) and teen brother Ben (MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER BOLTEN) — who are each trying to stand strong against the doubts that come with the chaotic turn their lives have taken.
Moved by Tyler’s courage, Brady realizes what he must do with the letters, a surprise decision that will transform his heart and uplift his new found friends and community –in an exhilarating act of testament to the contagious effect of one boy’s unwavering faith against the odds.
Inspired by a true story, Letters to God is an intimate, moving and often funny story about the galvanizing effect one child’s belief can have on his family, friends and community.
A school shooting, and a suicide in the first 15 minutes of the film. A sex scene, drinking games and a keg in the first 20. It doesn’t take long to figure out that To Save a Life (out January 22) is not your typical Christian film.
The good news is, the movie doesn’t have big shoes to fill. From the pure silliness of 1970’s “end times” films to Kirk Cameron’s phoned in performance in 2008’s Fireproof, Christian films are rarely enjoyable, even to the market they’re marketed to. To Save a Life wastes no time setting up the story. Childhood pals Jake and Roger do everything together, until Jake hits the social “big time” with his exceptional basketball skills and sun-bleached hair. When it comes to picking his best friend or the hot girl, Jake goes with his hormones, leaving Roger to limp around school alone, on a leg permanently disfigured from saving Jake from an oncoming car.
For Jake, things are great until senior year, when Roger walks into school, and commits suicide with a hallway full of peers to witness it. Jake’s initial defense is to ignore the situation, but a fight with his girlfriend and pressure from his overbearing father lead to some serious questions about the life he’s leading. After the cops bust a keg party and his girlfriend runs off with his truck, Jake calls a local youth pastor for a ride. Conversations about faith and meaning ensue.
No, Jake isn’t converted on the spot. But the seeds of doubt about the shallowness of his “basketball and beer” existence do lead him to check out church, and to alter some of his decisions.
The most pleasing thing about watching To Save a Life is that it feels like a genuine story is being told, instead of the usual Christian move to make a film where the characters spend a solid hour setting up a Sunday school lesson at the end. Leading man Randy Wanyne (Jake Taylor) and his girlfriend Amy Biggs (Deja Kreutzberg) do act like teens you’d meet at your local high school. Friendly and energetic, even if they do party and engage in casual sex on the weekends. Even the film’s “quirky youth group girl” and the “conniving pastor’s kid” hit pretty close to the mark on how comprable teens in real life would act.
However, for all of director Brian Braugh’s courage to show teenage life as it actually is, he stumbles in a few places. While the writing moves the story along, this isn’t a movie you and your friends will be quoting next year, or even next week. The hip-hop songs used in the party scenes just aren’t very good, and it’s noticeable. There’s a scene that is more or less stolen from the real-life events of social-networking help guru Jamie Tworkowski, founder of To Write Love on Her Arms, that will assuredly make the audience groan at it’s fakeness.
But all the story ultimately shines through the minor scuffs. By the time the movie nears it’s end, binge-drinking, casual sex, cutting, loneliness and the shark tank that is the high school social scene have all been grappled with in an authentic manner. And as the social groups within Pacific High School clash with their own decisions and each other, it becomes very clear that, for once, a Christian film isn’t going to wrap up with an overly simplistic moral lesson. Rather than a story of a bad kid who becomes good, the plot is layered with teens in a variety of social situations who are forced to wrestle with why they act, judge others, and believe as they do.
The biggest question surrounding To Save a Life is not whether it’s a movie worth seeing. It is. It’s by no means the best movie you’ll see this year, but the film does wrap you in a compelling story. The biggest problem the movie faces is whether or not it can gain traction and reach the audience that needs this message. Because of the content (the 10 second sex scene, three swear words, and one beer keg) some Christians have already complained to the Christian radio stations currently supporting it. And teenagers and twentysomethings, even the ones who are in church two or three days a week, aren’t normally going to pay eight bucks to watch a “Christian movie.”
Still, a day after watching it, I can’t shake the feeling that this movie will change something. It’s got the potential to do what Switchfoot and P.O.D. did in music circa early 2003; to show mainstream culture that some Christian-generated media is worth taking seriously.
