Emotionally manipulative movie with the male lead being the worst offender. While the premise leads to some genuine emotions, some of the acting wasn't there and wasn't good. The movie at times felt too long and seemingly uninteresting. The kids were rather generic and faceless as actors. I went through 90% of the movie thinking the kid in glasses was a girl (until the kid was introduced as being a brother, I would have presumed that it was otherwise). A lot of the direction wasn't there either; the director seemed to rip off better directors for a few of the scenes (namely, Robert Zemeckis). Daisy Betts as the mother was the best actress in the movie; Terry O'Quinn did great although I wondered why his character seemed unable to send his son any money if he supposedly loved him.
This isn't to say there weren't some good parts to the movie. The opening shot was great and the train scene was really good. The cinematography throughout the movie was the highlight, even if the acting wasn't. I can't fault a movie for being well shot.
The movie left me wondering why anyone would listen to Christian music because that industry seemed more cutthroat and evil than the secular music Christians love to attack. It seems Christian music has just as many jerks as the rest of the music industry.
I also wonder how difficult things would have been if the family weren't white or weren't relatively pretty. A family of people of color (or even LGBTQ) would have a harder time in the US versus a family that talked "English in a funny accent" that moved to the South.
This isn't to say there weren't some good parts to the movie. The opening shot was great and the train scene was really good. The cinematography throughout the movie was the highlight, even if the acting wasn't. I can't fault a movie for being well shot.
The movie left me wondering why anyone would listen to Christian music because that industry seemed more cutthroat and evil than the secular music Christians love to attack. It seems Christian music has just as many jerks as the rest of the music industry.
I also wonder how difficult things would have been if the family weren't white or weren't relatively pretty. A family of people of color (or even LGBTQ) would have a harder time in the US versus a family that talked "English in a funny accent" that moved to the South.