Letters To God
Primary Audience:
Kids Family Teens Adults
Genre:
Drama Adaptation
Length:
1 hr. 50 min.
Year of Release:
2010
USA Release:
April 9, 2010 (wide—900+ theaters)
DVD: August 10, 2010
Featuring : Robyn Lively (Maddy Doherty), Jeffrey
Johnson (Brady McDaniels), Bailee Madison (Sam), Maree Cheatham (Olivia),
Tanner Maguire (Tyler Doherty), Michael Bolten (Ben Doherty), Ralph Waite (Mr.
Perryfield), Dennis Neal (Lester Stevens), Cris Cunningham (Carl Landers), L.
Derek Leonidoff (Pastor Andy), Christopher Schmidt (Walter Finley), Avery
Sommers (Carol Wallace), Amanda Best (Jamie Lynn Byrnes), Andrea Conte (Miss
Emily Holley),
Director ; Director: David Nixon, Patrick Doughtie
“Letters to God” is a breath of fresh air for
people who are sick and tired of the type of films
Hollywood
is filling our generation’s mind with. It continually saddens me to see
professing “
Christians”
recommend films that contain profanity, sexual promiscuity, and other worldly
behaviors. Do not become numb to the things of this world, and do not forget
that we are commanded to “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that
which is good and acceptable and perfect” (
Rom. 12:2).
“Letters to God” is inspired by a true story about a boy who’s dying of
cancer. The sick boy
is living with his single mom, teenage brother, and grandma. Together they are
trying to cope with the reality of disease and
death, and how it
relates to
faith
in the
true God revealed
in the
Scriptures.
The one who seems to be dealing with the situation the best is Tyler, the boy
with cancer. He displays the kind of
faith Jesus Himself describes
in
Matthew 21; the
faith that can move mountains. He displays his child-like faith by writing
letters to
God
and placing them in the mail box. The letters end up in the hands of the
mailman.
In the beginning, a new mailman comes into the scene. He is a lost,
drunken,
hopeless man who
has lost his
wife
and son, as a result of his addiction to alcohol. God has said the wages of
sin is
death (
Rom 6:23), but sin,
also, has earthly wages, which is realistically portrayed though the life of
this mailman. Through Tyler’s letters to God, he begins to be inspired and is
touched by Tyler’s strong
faith in the
Mighty One.
“How can a dying boy have so much
hope and a
perfectly healthy man is slowly killing himself,” one must ask? It will cause
you to examine yourself, to say the least.
The movie is well made for the budget they had, and the acting is average.
However, the message is stronger than any movie I’ve seen in a very long time.
The only part of the film that deserves a warning is that the mailman is
seen sitting in a bar a few times, but there is no foul language or other
inappropriate behavior shown. There are no sexual references or violence to
speak of.
Theologically, I feel inclined to point out that the
Gospel message is
communicated, however, it is based on the “just ask Jesus to come into your
heart” style of
evangelism.
Taken from a child’s perspective, it is good to see that the Gospel is present,
but that is not how a
sinner
is
saved. A
sinner must first
realize that
he or she has sinned, and, as a result of that sin,
deserves to
be
punished
eternally
in
Hell. Only then
will a sinner see the genuine need for a
Savior:
Jesus Christ. Only when
a person, child or adult, understands the
depravity of
their soul can they
repent and
believe the
Gospel.
It is a divine work of God (
John 6:44). “Asking
Jesus to come into your heart” does not save a person. Evidence of
salvation is a
new life in
Christ
(
2 Cor 5:17), not
the act of having said a short
prayer one time
in your life.
Overall, I highly recommend this film to any family. In fact, it’s one to
buy and add to your movie collection. Buy it as a gift or loan it out, because
everyone could benefit from the
faith and
influence young Tyler has on his entire community. We need more movies out
there like this one. Let this
Scripture ring
in your ear,
“Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like
children, you will
not enter the
kingdom
of heaven. Whoever then
humbles himself
as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever
receives one such child in My name receives Me” (
Matt 18:3-5).