Miracles from Heaven

My View:  Miracles from Heaven  (2016)  PG  Set in a small Texas town, a 12-year old girl named, Anna (Kylie Rogers), gets sick, and only her determined mother (Jennifer Garner) believes that she is more ill than any doctor thinks.  Finally, the mother find a doctor who determines Anna has a pseudo-obstruction motility disorder, which means Anna will never live a normal life and may die soon. It will take a miracle to save her.  Jennifer Garner gives a strong performance as the mom who is determined to find out what is happening to her daughter and if there is a cure. We can see the worry on her face and the kindness in her actions as Garner portrays a woman whose faith is challenged by her daughter’s illness. Rogers, as the sick Anna, doesn’t have to do much but look sickly. If you are someone who likes faith-based films, then you will enjoy this movie. If your idea of a perfect Sunday is brunch rather than church, you might want to skip this film as its message of faith and belief in God’s hearings is a little strong, in my opinion.     My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Miracles from Heaven Website

Indiefest:  Hello, My Name is Doris  (2015)  R  Doris (Sally Field) is an ordinary office worker in her sixties. She is set in her ways, living in the house where she grew up and wearing the same style clothes she wore in the 70s. Her life changes when a new manager (Max Greenfield) takes over and takes an interest in Doris. The reason to see this film is Sally Field, as I can only think of Meryl Streep as the only other actress who could play this role as well as Field.  Field makes us instantly like Doris, even though she is a little strange and very delusional that she has any chance for romance with the new manager. Field plays Doris with conviction and never makes us feel sorry for her. Instead, we admire her tenacity and her ability to trying new things. It’s an honest performance that makes this film work as well as it does.   My Rating: Full Price   Hello, My Name is Doris Website

Indiefest:  The Bronze  (2015)  R  A foul-mouthed former gymnast, Hope (Melissa Rauch), has made a living on the fact that she won an Olympic bronze medal. Now she is asked to put her ego aside and help mentor a new up-and-coming star. I wanted to love this film, but I just like it. Melissa Rauch is very different than her spunky role on “Big Bang Theory.”  In this film, she is a surly, entitled jerk who treats everyone in her small town, including her father, like they are beneath her. While I enjoyed Rauch’s performance, the script comes up a bit short in making the film well rounded. Too often the characters in the film are one-sided and easy to predict. I did enjoy the performance of Thomas Middleditch, who plays the owner of the local gym who sees potential in Hope, believing that she will overcome herself and become a decent person. The film is funny at times, but the script lets down the performers, not giving them fully formed characters they can work with.   My Rating:  Bargain Matinee     The Bronze Website

Forgotten Film: The Namesake  (2006)   PG-13  This is brilliant film about an Indian family living in New York. Ashram (Tabut) and Ashoke (Irrfan Khan) have an arraigned marriage and they move to New York from Calcutta.  The have two children, which is Gogol (Kal Penn) and a daughter named Sonia (Sahria Nair), who grow up American but still living under their parents Indian ways. When Gogol gets a white girlfriend, things really get interesting. This is a wonderful story of parents who while stuck in their traditional ways, want more for their children, for them to fulfill their dreams of their own.    My Rating: Full Price     The Namesake Info  

In Memory of Ed Wood (A Movie I've Only Seen in Trailers But Just Looks Like a Bad Idea):  Mother’s Day  (2016)  PG-13  If you liked the Gary Marshall movies New Year’s Eve  (2011) and Valentine’s Day (2010), you probably will like this one.  For the rest of us, I think we will just send flowers or maybe make a phone call, rather than see this film.   Mother's Day info

Weird Credits:  From the credits of The Bronze:  Swing Gang

Coming Soon to a Theater Near You:  Hardcore Henry  (2016)  R  The talk of SXSW Film Festival is a first person action film where you the viewer are the hero of the story. The camera shows your perspective as Henry attempts to save his wife from an evil mastermind. Critics are still trying to figure out how they filmed it   Hardcore Henry Website

Until Next Time!