I knew I had to see how the movie version of “Heaven is For Real”, one of the most talked about JC summer reading books, and how it interpreted four-year-old Colton Burpo’s (Connor Corum) trip to heaven and his family’s consequent struggle with their faith. Though I enjoyed the film, the story maintained more of its intrigue in book form.

 The story, though focused around Colton’s experience with heaven, makes Todd Burpo (Greg Kinnear) the real point of focus in the story. Not only does he struggle with his own hardship, including injury, financial woes, and the pain of almost losing his son, but he also has to figure out what it means for his faith that his four-year-old is claiming to have been to heaven.

 Kinnear was by far one of the most interesting things about the film, and his acting was the glue that held the whole movie together. Something about Kinnear just really tugs on one’s heartstrings, no matter what challenge it is that his character is facing.

 Of course Corum was another heart-pull-inducing actor, and I found it incredibly hard to resist cooing at his huge, blue eyes. However, he is still just a kid, so most of the storyline was carried by Kinnear. Todd’s loving wife Sonja (Kelly Reilly) pulled her weight, but wasn’t anything special.

A common theme of the movie was that it was good, but nothing special. I found myself really wanting to be drawn in more by the storyline but I wasn’t. Todd seemed to be struggling with his faith, but it seemed obvious what the end result would be.

The film was obviously a Christian film, and I think that it will appeal to that faith base, but it may have inadvertently turned others away.  At times, Todd’s character seemed closed-minded, like when he went to speak with a professional about his son’s encounter. When she gave him a scientific answer, he completely shut her out.  Not in line with his character at all, I think the film could have been stronger had they embraced the question of the reality of Colton’s claims more, even if the film still reached the same conclusion.

 The thing that bothered me most about the film was the visual depiction of what heaven looked like to Colton, and that they showed his experiences in heaven. In the novel, his experiences were described, but showing them on-screen made them appear trivial and forced. The whole point the movie makes about heaven is that it may be different for everyone. Though it is simple, it is still beyond our comprehension, and the scenes of a blue sky with glowing angels with voices like fairies downplay heaven a bit too much.

 The story was still beautiful, the actors were touching, and the screenplay and director did just about as good of a job as I think could have been done. I simply think that this book was not meant to be made into a film.

 Karly Horn is an A&E Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.