Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Miracles from Heaven Blu-ray Movie Review

Do you believe in miracles?

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 14, 2016

Director Patricia Riggen's (The 33) Miracles from Heaven, based on the book by Christy Beam, tells the true-life story of a young girl who suffered from a painful and incurable ailment but finds full health when her life is nearly, in an unrelated accident, taken from her. The film is a touching document of man's trials and a testament to the importance of love and family and the belief in a higher power, a belief that sometimes, and even understandably, can fade and fall to challenge in the most trying of times. Honestly emotional, smartly assembled, strongly performed, and with a positive message even through its tearjerking first two acts, the film speaks loudly and clearly to positive values, to the importance of holding firm through the darker times, the power of sharing love and faith, and never taking any of life's ups or downs for granted.

Helping hands.

The Beam family -- father Kevin (Martin Henderson), mother Christy (Jennifer Garner), and daughters Anna (Kylie Rogers), Adelynn (Courtney Fansler), and Abbie (Brighton Sharbino) -- live in Burleson, TX, right outside of Fort Worth. Anna is excited about a church trip to the Dallas aquarium, but she's not going to get to go. She becomes gravely ill, vomiting nonstop and seeing a parade of doctors who claim everything from "lactose intolerance" to "acid reflux." But when Anna doesn't get better, Christy demands the hospital run more comprehensive tests. It turns out Anna is suffering from a condition whereby she cannot process food. She's more than likely going to die, and her only hope, her doctor tells Christy, is to take her to see a specialist in Boston. But that road's a dead-end. The doctor is booked for months straight and, despite Christy's pleas and cries for help, cannot get her daughter a timely appointment. With hope all but lost, Christy takes the initiative and flies Anna and herself to Boston in hopes of finding a life-saving miracle.

Miracles from Heaven is built around spiritual, Christian-based underpinnings, though, for the most part, its core religious values and themes are background support pieces, not narrative driving forces. Anna's ailment and her mother's frantic search for answers define most of the film, as do the accumulating "little miracles" that play out in the day-to-day existence, yielding more a tearjerking medical drama and less a preachy journey through life's trials. That all-too-relatable dramatic center of illness, suffering, frayed emotions, sense of hopelessness, and last-ditch efforts is often hard -- painful -- to watch as a feeling of increasing dread surrounds Anna and her condition, first as she's initially, and incorrectly, diagnosed with multiple everyday sort of ailments and eventually as the roller coaster that is the ups of hope and the downs of setbacks gets into a rhythm of peaks and valleys. Riggen maintains control through it all, crafting the film with an underlying tenderness that, even through the tears, seems to encourage hope and belief in not just a higher power but the power of the human spirit, not just because audiences may know the outcome going in (or based on the title) but because there's an aura of goodness about the movie and the characters who portray them, an aura that seems to ease the soul even in the movie's darkest moments.

The film's cast is superb. Young Kylie Rogers is remarkable as Anna. The way she presents her pain and all of the emotional ups and downs that come with her condition -- separation from her family, fading hope and anger at life, questions and doubts, fears, and everything else the young actress is charged with performing -- is really quite striking. Jennifer Garner is equally strong as Anna's mother, who may not be suffering from an ailment like her daughter's, but whose suffering is no less painful. Her ability to show that pain and vulnerability, while maintaining as much physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health as is reasonably possible in her situation, is commendable. It's a difficult role, one that requires all that strength and all that weakness to come through simultaneously, and she's certainly up to the challenge. Queen Latifah is terrific in a smaller, but extremely crucial, role. Her appearance in the movie comes at one of the film's darkest, lowest points, and she lightens the mood considerably and at just the right time. She's essentially a guardian angel, hardly divine but certainly Heaven-sent and, arguably, the most crucial character in the movie. The film's unsung hero is Eugenio Derbez as the busy but big-hearted and agreeable Dr. Nurko who, like Garner, must find a balance between dark and light. He wears his emotions on his sleeve, but not in the obvious way. His own pains at his limitations are obvious, but his duty to Anna's well-being, even beyond her medical charts and the crude details of her physical health care, are obvious. A wonderful performance.

Miracles from Heaven Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Miracles from Heaven was digitally photographed and features a very clean and modestly smooth 1080p transfer. There's a rather heavy red push to the image. It's noticeably warm throughout, leaving flesh tones in particular strongly tinted away from more natural complexions. Otherwise, the palette is satisfyingly vibrant. Blue hospital scrubs, red fire engines, and other dominant colors are well saturated, while general coloring around the background and less pronounced attire proves excellent, too. Details are strong. Image clarity is excellent and all of the usual suspects -- facial definition, clothing textures, and the like -- present with all of the intimate, tactile clarity one would expect from a major new release. Black levels are fine. Noise is very light and never bothersome. No other anomalies are readily apparent. This is yet another quality effort from Sony.

Miracles from Heaven Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Miracles from Heaven's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack delivers the movie's somewhat modest and occasionally active track very well. Music is exciting and nicely detailed. Third Day's Soul on Fire, played during the first church service in the movie, delivers excellent lyrical and instrumental detail alike, enjoying wide stage placement. Other popular songs throughout the movie, mostly Christian and County, enjoy the same vigor and definition. Minor exterior ambient effects are nicely filling and placed around the stage, and some more prominent support elements around busier locations, such as hospitals, play with greater clarity and efficiency. The film is otherwise dialogue intensive. The spoken word is grounded in the front-center with flawless prioritization and definition.

Miracles from Heaven Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Miracles from Heaven contains a commentary, deleted scenes, and a handful of featurettes. A UV digital copy code is included with purchase.

• Audio Commentary: Director Patricia Riggen and Writer Randy Brown speak on the real people portrayed in the film, the core story details, building the movie around the tree, changes made from the real story, shooting locations, cast and performances, shot construction, and plenty more. This is a strong track, one that does a great job of not only shedding more light on the cruder aspects of the making of the film but also the deeper insights into translating the story's finer points to the screen.
• Bearing Witness (1080p, 9:09): The real Beam family celebrates the miracle with friends and looks back on Anna's experiences. A look around the family property is included.
• Miracles Abound: The Making of Miracles from Heaven (1080p, 9:16): Cast and crew discuss the draw to the project, the movie's themes, the cast's relationship with the real people they play, casting and performances, shooting locations, making the tree sequence, and more.
• Accounts from Annabel (1080p, 6:17): A look back at Annabel's time in the hospital and where she is today.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 13:33 total runtime): Shame on You, Please Don't Make Me Go Again, Is It Important to Abbie?, Peaceful Family, and I Went to Heaven.
• Your Words Music Montage (1080p, 3:47): Third Day's hit played over clips from the film.
• Creating Heaven: Concept Art Exploration (1080p, 3:48): A quick look at designing the film's Heaven sequence.
• Previews (1080p): Additional Sony titles.

Miracles from Heaven Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Miracles from Heaven is another Christian movie that, through most of its runtime and much like Heaven Is For Real, is hardly a feel-good experience. But the movies' pains are offset by the hope they share and, certainly, their positive resolutions. Even the most stalwart of viewers may tear up throughout. It's a difficult movie, for the most part, but rewarding not only for its positive messages but the strength of its performances and technical assemblage. Sony's Blu-ray release is quite good, yielding strong video and audio to go along with a healthy allotment of nicely supportive bonus content. Highly recommended.