This article was copied (instead of imported) from the now-deleted Awful Movies Wiki from the Wayback Machine.
I Can Only Imagine
Genre:
Religious
Directed by:
Erwin Brothers
Produced by:
Cindy Bond Kevin Downes Daryl Lefever Mickey Liddell Pete Shilaimon Raymond Harris Joe Knopp
Written by:
Alex Cramer (story) Jon Erwin Brent McCorkle
Based on:
The life story of Bart Millard
Starring:
J. Michael Finley
Photography:
Color
Cinematography:
Kristopher Kimlin
Editing:
Andrew Erwin Brent McCorkle
Music by:
Brent McCorkle
Production company:
LD Entertainment Erwin Brothers Entertainment Kevin Downes Entertainment Mission Pictures International
Distributed by:
Lionsgate Roadside Attractions
Release date:
March 16, 2018
Runtime:
110 minutes
Country:
United States
Language:
English
Budget:
$7 million
Box office:
$86 million
I Can Only Imagine is a 2018 American Christian drama film directed by the Erwin Brothers and written by Alex Cramer, Jon Erwin, and Brent McCorkle, based on the story behind the MercyMe song of the same name, which is the best-selling Christian single of all time. The film stars J. Michael Finley as Bart Millard, the lead singer who wrote the song about his relationship with his father (Dennis Quaid). Madeline Carroll, Trace Adkins, Priscilla Shirer, and Cloris Leachman also star.
Bad Qualities
It repeats the same flaws from other bad Christian movies, as well as many clichés. For example, Bart's father is yet a clichéd father who is abusive at the start but then changes his ways when accepting Jesus Christ into his heart, who eventually dies by cancer, in which this has been done so many times before.
Bart, himself, is a whiny brat who actually runs away from his father after being abused and even breaks up his girlfriend, why? Because his girlfriend just simply asked her group to pray for him. Eventually, they reconcile.
Terrible acting.
Historical inaccuracy: The movie is set during the 1980s, but a brief appearance of K-LOVE is seen at the end.
There's a scene where Bart denies his own criticism after a concert by the music judges, because they didn't find it "good enough", which reminded Bart of being insulted by his father, which is just inexcusable.
The infamous scene where Bart's father slams a plate on his head.
The studio had to use a school bus in order for the MercyMe band to have a bus.
More importantly, it's just boring. There's nothing else to add to it.
The concept of a song getting adapted into a movie is stupid and makes no sense. Although, to be fair, the entire film explains why the song was made.
Good Qualities
The song itself isn't actually bad, and the plot itself is based off of a true story.
It shows Bart's life after the song at the end.
Despite it repeating many of the cliches of other faith-based films, this film also avoids a lot of flaws of them. For example, it doesn't demonize atheists.
