I didn't bother to read the description and I didn't know how it ended, so my experience may have been different from that of most people. I was also very confused by the ending until I read a description of it. I have a hard time telling people apart if they look alike, so I was totally misled--and disappointed. But the news footage used told me all of this was real. Or at least based on something that really happened.
Still, the process is what is important here. The people trying to help John did quite a good job. Susie had a wonderful attitude, but Aaron was needed for the long term. I thought maybe because of Aaron's lack of faith, he would get his faith back, and maybe he did. I have read, though, that he wasn't a real person. The inclusion of a faith based message was positive, and it wasn't the kind of pushy message sometimes seen in inspirational movies. In fact, I don't recall anything that would have been specific to Mormons.
Chadwick Hopson did a good job but didn't challenge us any more than was necessary. Having read other imdb reviews, I can say I'm glad some ideas presented in those are not what I would have wanted to see. I can only hope it was the camera and not the actor that was upside down, even if the scenes didn't last all that long.
Alexis Johnson did a great job, both in the present as the concerned wife and in the past in flashbacks as the perky and intelligent girlfriend. Many of her scenes had no dialogue but they were the nice scenes which the movie desperately needed.
The movie left out some details. More flashbacks might have been nice instead of so much of a focus on inside the cave. Also, it was not possible to hear any of what was going on above as Aaron and John were alone. And very little of the process of trying to rescue John was shown.
I'm not sure why it took me so long to watch this. I think the baby being born at the beginning confused me and made me think I was watching a different movie, so I waited. It's a good thing I didn't delete this from the DVR because if I had read the description, I would have realized it wasn't that movie.
And here is an amazing coincidence: on a night when I realized I had some movies to watch that I hadn't gotten around to seeing, I also had a list of episodes of a series that I had been reluctant to watch. The next one up was a Thanksgiving episode! And for these people it was also a terrible Thanksgiving. Sacrifices had to be made, but eventually the celebration happened.
I didn't care for the music, but I think people would enjoy the classic-style alternative rock sound when there were songs with lyrics.
I noticed this movie was rated TV-PG with no content indicators and it was a family movie with nothing objectionable, except for being scary. I think it would be fine for older kids.
Not great, but for what it was, I guess it was good.
