The Film's 2 Fatal Mistakes (it almost made, but didn't)
I'll be honest, when I first learned about this movie from my grandmother, how it was based on a true story and how great it is, all I could think was "Great, another religious movie that claims to be based on real events. I know it sucks and I don't even have to watch it." However, I eventually sat down and gave it a watch. You can only imagine my surprise when this film ended up being quite decent. The reason for my surprise stems from 2 fatal mistakes that I thought the movie was going to make. Taking into consideration the real events (which I studied for about a half-hour), the mistakes are as follows: 1. The boy with cancer (named Tyler Doherty) was barely in the film (even though the film is about him), and as a result, he has no character, giving us no reason to care about him. 2. The mailman who receives the mail from the kid never actually existed, and he really felt like he was just there to force the religious aspect of the movie. As I said, the movie manages to avoid both of these problems. Let me explain how it does, one problem at a time.
1. The boy with cancer (named Tyler Doherty) was barely in the film (even though the film is about him), and as a result, he has no character, giving us no reason to care about him.
Thankfully, Tyler is in a majority of the film, which provides the filmmakers ample time to give him an actual character, and my compliments go out to the filmmakers for using their time wisely to do exactly that. Rather than just TELLING us what kind of a kid Tyler is, we are SHOWN what kind of a kid he is. He is a genuinely kind-hearted boy who places the needs and concerns of others above his own, for he wants nothing more than for the ones he cares about to feel as happy as possible, despite his condition.
Speaking of which, and I don't know if anyone has made this complaint or not but regardless, if there is anyone here who has said something along the lines of, "Sometimes when we are with the boy, the film seems to forget that he has cancer (heck, even the kid acts like he doesn't have it oftentimes), only to arbitrarily bring it up again to toy with the audience's emotions", then I seriously think you need to take a closer look at the film. We are constantly aware that Tyler is bald, even when he has the hat on (the only reason he is given the hat is so he can fit in with his friends), after all the baldness was caused by the cancer. Sure the film doesn't always acknowledge his condition outright, but the audience is subconsciously aware of it the whole time the film is on. As for this:
heck, even the kid acts like he doesn't have it oftentimes
I really shouldn't have to say this, but I'm pretty sure that Tyler wouldn't forget about a life-threatening condition that HE has. Obviously, it's at the back of his mind, but he doesn't let that get in the way when he's having a good time with others, especially with his girl friend, who, by the way, is played by Bailee Madison, who does a far better job here than in Just Go With It (Hooray for no irritatingly fake British accents).
Speaking of performances, Tanner Maguire does a good job at making you believe that he is the kind-hearted boy that he is supposed to be. In short, while I can't call him a 3-dimensional character, he is developed just enough to the point where I did care about him somewhat. Granted, I didn't get sad when he died, but I did say "Well, sucks that he's dead. Kinda wish he survived", which was a sadder reaction than most religious films can get out of me (looking at you, Facing the Giants).
2. The mailman who receives the mail from the kid never actually existed, and he really felt like he was just there to force the religious aspect of the movie.
As soon as I learned of this difference between the film and reality, I said, "I think I know how they're going to force the religious elements of the movie. I mean, since the true events don't provide them with any opportunities to do that to begin with, they may as well make up something to make it easier on themselves." At the time, the very thought of them making up facts so they can better shove the Christian elements down our throats just made me sick to my stomach.
In reality, while Brady McDaniels does seem to make those same elements feel a bit forced, that forcefulness is somewhat negligible. As for his character, he is an alcoholic, down-on-his-luck mailman who seems to have nowhere to go in life but down a path littered with nothing but loneliness and booze, and Jeffrey Johnson portrays this well; it's not award-worthy, mind you, but it is good enough. I should mention that the reason that his life has gone to hell is because he got into a car accident, which he caused because of his being drunk at the time. Now that'd be bad enough (trust me, I know, I've caused an accident before, though drunkenness wasn't the cause), but what really sealed the deal was the fact that his kid was in the backseat when this happened. This led to his wife divorcing him, gaining custody of their child, and moving away. Anyways, since the local mailman was given a vacation (which he seriously needed, btw), Brady is tasked with getting the letters that Tyler writes each day. As he comes to the house each day, he begins to bond with Tyler and eventually becomes good friends with him, and even helps him with soccer practice.
Now chances are that your initial reaction to their friendship would probably be: "Why is he becoming friends with the kid? He has no reason to do so! He is just at the kid's house to get the letters and leave. Nothing more, nothing less." I'll admit, I said this too, but then I gave it a bit of thought and it made a lot of sense. Now considering what Brady's backstory is, I believe the reason he befriends Tyler is because Tyler is like the son he would still have had the accident not make his wife take his kid with her. Or perhaps he thinks that Tyler is a possible second chance at having a son and not screwing it up by getting into an accident or otherwise (I think he actually considers marrying Tyler's mom at one point, though I might be wrong about that). In short, Brady McDaniels is a good character who is played well by Jeffrey Johnson, and his relationship with Tyler works well and adds a bit of depth to both characters.
Whew, that was a lot to say. Anyways, while I don't think this movie is good, per say, it comes damn close, but it is held back by the religious elements feeling a bit forced, despite what I've said above. Regardless, this is one of the better religious movies out there, so I'd say you should give it a watch. One final note, though, everything I've said above is purely my opinion. None of what I said is true for every person who watches the movie, nor is any of this what the filmmakers intended (but it might be). You might take away from the movie everything that I said, or you might not, it's up to you. share