as someone who became a C5/C6 quadriplegic just a little under one year ago, I appreciated this movie's theme (it is only under adverse circumstances, that one's true character shows). The portrayal of the struggle, both mental and physical, to overcome paralysis due to spinal injury (especially at higher, cervical levels) is pretty close to dead on as far as my own struggle is concerned. The actors do a good job at showing how a person with a cervical level spinal cord injury realistically would move. I do wish they could have done a better job of explaining the injuries. Often, people think that paralysis means lack of feeling, when in reality it really only means that the person has limited mobility and, or dexterity Along with mild two severe levels of nerve pain.
one thing that was interesting to me about this film was their choice to include the theme of depending on God for strength and courage to deal with the struggle of a spinal injury. Although there were obvious things, such as the pastor and his wife along with the church they work at, the movie really didn't delve very far into the topic of faith. This is not to criticize the filmmaker, only to say that I thought it was interesting that they included such a deep issue, and yet (by my perception) did not decide to go very far into it. This is just my opinion obviously, but I thought it would have been interesting to hear more of how the family and friends of the young men were depending on their faith to get through the challenges they were faced With.
The movie was very enjoyable and I gave it a 7/10 simply because some of the storytelling was confusing as far as the intertwining of the two young mens' lives, and each of their struggles with spinal cord injuries/parallelization. Although there are some typical low- budget movie clichés, including bad lighting, over acting, strange non sequitur dialogue or comments, uncomfortable camera angles, etc. I really thought those minor things did not matter, as the movie was over all incredibly uplifting, and not at all something that would make me feel uncomfortable to watch with my parents.
if you are dealing with a spinal cord injury, whether you your self are injured or someone around you has any injury, I highly recommend that you see this movie. It could really inspire you and perhaps change your perspective.
