I Can Only Imagine (2018)

If I’m being honest, I really want the Christian film industry to succeed. I want it to be good art that families can feel comfortable seeing in a theater. I want it to have good messages for Christians in the world today, and I want these films to do well and gain respect outside of the American evangelical sphere. There haven’t been many films of this genre, though, that have risen above one of two categories – borderline sermon or borderline propaganda – and the typical lack of production quality behind these films means that I cannot in good conscience say they are good movies either.

If I’m being honest, though, I also must admit that I Can Only Imagine is one of the better Christian films of the last several years. It does a surprisingly good job proving that its story – the life of Bart Millard and how his journey led him to write the titular song – can make an emotionally compelling film, which considering how unnecessary the film seems at its outset is quite a feat.

That does not mean, however, that the film is free of cinematic issues. Despite the Erwin brothers’ decent direction that does contain artistic moments and is free of the incredibly subpar filmmaking of most Christian movies, there are tons of structural issues with the film’s narrative. Multiple times, I felt like scenes had been left on the cutting room floor that needed to be present to adequately explain critical parts of the film. Characters like Bart’s love interest Shannon come in and out of the picture seemingly at will, and their relationship, despite its cute beginnings at church camp, does not seem believable for a majority of the film’s running time.

Another reason why Bart and Shannon’s relationship doesn’t work is that J. Michael Finley and Madeline Carroll aren’t good or experienced actors. The cast’s poor acting and lack of experience make the film’s lackluster writing stick out like a sore thumb. There are some performances that work (which I’ll get into later), but it appears that when Dennis Quaid (playing Bart’s father) is not on screen the acting really suffers – almost like the presence of a respectable, experienced actor elevated the other more inexperienced players’ motivation to perform well.

Finley and Quaid, however, fit the dynamic the film aims for in that relationship perfectly. Quaid does very good work as the elder Millard, making his transformation later in the film unbelievable in the right way and elevating some of his scenes with Finley to be very emotionally gripping. It was quite surprising to me how central that story was to the film; I expected a music industry biopic through and through, and instead I Can Only Imagine is more of a family drama with a musical component.

I must admit that I Can Only Imagine is quite a heart-tugging film. It has its share of problems that make it suffer greatly when judged as a film – which, unfortunately, I cannot in good conscience bring myself to excuse – but its central story of Bart and his father is compelling enough for it to not be a complete waste of time. If the writing and structural editing were done with just a little more attention to quality and detail, this could be a very solid family drama; unfortunately, its shortcomings cinematically hold it back from this goal.

My recommendation: Skip it.

My grade: 38/100