Walking with God “Even If” It Means Through Fire
Christian band MercyMe exploded on the scene with their first single, “I Can Only Imagine.” And, eight years ago, we got a movie that told the story of lead singer Bart Millard and how he came to write that song. Now we get I Can Only Imagine 2 which tells the story of their second biggest hit.
We pick up a number of years after MercyMe has really taken off. While they haven’t reached the same level of success with their other singles, they are traveling a lot and have released several other projects. On a personal front, Bart (once again played by John Michael Finley) is struggling with his relationship with his teenage son Sam (Sammy Dell) who is type 1 diabetic. Because of his own relationship with his late father, Bart is struggling with how to parent his son.
He invites Sam to join MercyMe on their latest tour, their first time headlining. Along as their opening act is Tim Timmons (Milo Ventimiglia). Tim has a song he’s been struggling to write. As he shares his own journey and his affinity for the hymn “It Is Well,” will that get through to Bart? And Sam?
I’ve been a fan of “Even If” since the first time I heard it. But I suspected that the story behind the song would include pain. After all, it’s a song about trusting and following God through trial. And yes, this movie is hard at times. I was wiping tears as I watched parts. Yet, it did not go where I expected and was ultimately uplifting.
Before we go further, I do feel the need to point out this is an “inspired by true events” movie. Given one of the updates that popped up at the end, I doubt that this story really happened completely as presented here. But what we get is perfectly dramatic. And I am watching a movie, not a documentary.
While I did feel one storyline was wrapped up a little easily, overall, I really did like the story. It is well told. There are several different storylines that cross and intersect in ways that kept me fully engaged. A couple of times I saw something coming right before it happened, but most of the time, I was just caught up in the story.
The actors get full credit for this. Everyone in the cast did a great job of bringing their characters to life. I don’t know the real people involved enough to know how close they are, but I don’t know that it matters. I was enjoying watching the actors bring the story to life.
Which brings us to the climax. As I said, one storyline seems a little quickly resolved. But overall, it was a fantastic moment in so many ways as we watch the band (or the actors playing them) play “Even If.” I was struggling not to cry as it played, and I’ve been a fan of the song since the first time I heard it back in 2017. It still hits that hard, but in the best way possible. Of course, having watched this story, it hit differently here in a good way
Again, I want to emphasize that this is, ultimately, an uplifting movie. You have to go through quite a bit to get there, but that’s life. It is worth it. And it’s a great reminder to be grateful to God. Even when it’s hard.
I’m so glad I went to see I Can Only Imagine 2. If you need your faith strengthened, do yourself a favor and go see this film, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for stopping by. In order to combat spam, I moderate most comments. I'll get to your comment as soon as I can.