I Can Only Imagine tells the inspiring story of the most played Christian song of all time

Movie Title:  
  I Can Only Imagine

Grade:  B

Rating: PG, 1 hour 50 minutes

In a Nutshell: Imagine what it would be like to walk with Jesus.  That’s the crux of the story line of this movie and the best-selling song by the popular Christian band “Mercy Me.”  Timed perfectly for release during the Easter season, its opening weekend earned an impressive 17.1 million dollars, making it Roadside Attractions' biggest box office debut to date.

I Can Only Imagine - The Very Best of MercyMe is the most played Christian song of all time.  Want to talk about the movie or its message?  Go to: www.ChatAboutFaith.com

                                          

Tips for parents: 

• The movie deals with abuse, a delicate, frightening subject for children…and adults.
• No profanity.  Thank you.

Uplifting theme: 

• Hope
• Father/Son relationships
• Forgiveness
• Jesus changes lives.
• Chase your dream.                       

Things I liked:

• First of all, it’s always great to see people in the theater supporting this and other Christian, faith-based films.
• Dennis Quaid’s smile.  Irresistible.  His twins are actually Extras in the movie in the dinner scene.
• It was great to see Cloris Leachman in a movie again!  I’ve always gotten a kick out of her.  I think the first time I ever saw her was when my dad took me to see the movie Young Frankenstein  I loved that she was the one who said, “Mercy me!”
•  J. Michael Finley did a great job.  This was his first movie!
• You get to hear a lot of Mercy Me’s music.
• You get to see Amy Grant.   I’ve always loved her and her music.  I really love what she did for Bart in this movie.
•  You get to see Rick Burgess, and Bill "Bubba" Bussey Jr. playing themselves.
• The Amazing Grace scene was very sweet and powerful.
• The ending concert is very sweet and made me cry.
• Bart makes a cameo appearance as the first DJ to open a CD case of the song at the end of the movie.
• The release of the song was actually on March 16, 3/16, in honor of the most famous Bible verse (John 3:16).
• You get to see footage of the real band "Mercy Me."

Things I didn’t like:

• Lots of terrible Southern accents.
• The kids are cute, but the acting wasn’t very good.
• It was kind of silly to have J. Michael Finley play a teenager in high school; he looked WAY older than any of the other students.  Shaving off that beard could have helped. 

Interesting lines:

• “You didn’t write this song in 10 minutes….it took a lifetime.” – Amy Grant
• “So, we’re still a band?” – Nathan (Mark Furze)

“No, we’re family.” – Bart (J. Michael Finley)

Funny lines:

• “She will not be joining us.” – Bart

“Well ain’t she the smart one.” – Brickell (Trace Adkins)

• “That was Amy Grant.  She talked to me!” – Bart

If you enjoyed the movie, you're going to want to pick this up:

                                                                     

                              

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