We have expanded our movie viewing recently
to watch more family and older movies rather than children’s movies. We have seen:
Heaven
is for Real
Our son has a subscription to a Christian kids’
magazine, which gives movie recommendations. This was one that he read about and then asked to watch. It’s based on a true story and a bestselling
book. Four-year old Colton recovers from
life-saving surgery and starts telling his dad he has been to heaven,
recounting details of the surgery that he shouldn’t know and having met people
in heaven he hasn’t met in real life.
For his dad, a pastor in a small town in America, it raises a huge
number of questions. Does he trust his
son? Is his account true? How does he respond when people begin to find
out and the media are interested? How
does his church react?
We didn’t overanalyse it with our
kids. We could have. It raises questions
about God, and makes people confront the idea that heaven is a real place,
Jesus is there, other people are there, and it is good and safe. The movie does not specifically address
salvation through Christ alone, but it does only have Jesus in heaven (ie. no
representatives from other religions).
We also chose not to talk about how much money has probably been raised
from the book and the movie, which is perhaps a conversation topic for when
they are older.
It was interesting, and one that I think
will keep raising questions as everyone thinks about it. Always a good thing.
Dolphin Tale
This was another one recommended by the
same magazine and this one was excellent.
It’s based on the true story of a dolphin found wrapped up in netting
off the Florida coast. Sawyer, a lonely
11-year old boy, finds her and she is taken to a financially strapped aquarium,
where she is cared for by the veterinarian and his daughter. The dolphin, named Winter, ends up losing
her tail as part of her injuries and a prosthetic specialist is asked to help. It has a great cast in Ashley Judd, Harry
Connick Jr and Morgan Freeman, as well as the two child actors.
This is an endearing story for the whole
family, we as well as the kids (aged 8-13) really enjoyed it and were caught up
in the drama of the story. It has a
great feel-good ending, and we were all so thankful Mr 13 had read the review
and asked to see it.
Bruce
Almighty
Not really a family movie as some bits
required fast-forwarding, other bits needed to be explained and others went
over their heads. Yet the premise is
clever and worth thinking about. What
would you do if you got to be God? What does giving people their own free will
look like even when you have God’s power?
Jim Carrey is so funny visually and the way he carries on completely
obsessed about his own life, thinking God is out to get him; and how he then
acts when given God’s powers definitely provides food for thought.
It was a bit of a risky choice at this age,
but was interesting for us all. I am now
on the lookout for Evan Almighty –
that is more appropriate for family viewing, and deals with obeying God despite
the opinions of others.
Three
Men and a Baby
This was a delve way back in the past,
remembering some of the movies we liked in the 80s. Three
Men and a Baby starts off with the partying lifestyle of 3 bachelors,
Michael, Peter and Jack. Then Mary, a 3-month
old baby is left on their doorstep by their mother Sylvia who can no longer
cope (of course, one of them is the father).
Their bumbling efforts in early baby care are very funny, and of course
they all fall in love with her in the end.
One of our kids didn’t like this one, disapproving of the portrayal of their
early lifestyle. I thought “good, you
aren’t supposed to”, but what they failed to see was how people can change for
the better. Whether or not Christ is in
people’s lives, it’s still good for our kids to see that people can change when
presented with a better reason for living than just themselves.
Some of us pushed on to Three Men and a Little Lady, which
really is very silly, but fun to see the interactions between the unique family
grouping - with Sylvia, Jack, Michael and Peter and now 5-year old Mary. We all agreed it was not really worth seeing
again, but was a bit of fun along the way.
