The Cokeville Miracle

Like the title said, the acting and directing were less than stellar - though not truly bad. The story makes up for the other shortcomings though. At the point that I thought would be the "miracle" point in the movie, it clearly wasn't nearly over. That's when the real story starts.

I love that TC Christensen chose to make this story into a movie. We need more positive and inspirational movies. Despite the fact that I'm a big fan of theater, love movies, and get frustrated by little inconsistencies or less than accomplished actors, I loved this story enough that I would take it over a very well acted and directed movie with no moral value.

We watched it with three of our sons, ages 9, 13, and 17 and the 13 year old said at the end (in his best disgusted-that-anything-tugged-at-my-emotions voice) "Well THAT made me really happy!"

Here's what I don't get. Why did so many people who don't want to watch a movie about God or religion watch a movie with the word "miracle" in the title? I understand if you don't like that kind of stuff. I don't like horror films so I don't watch movies with the word "horror" in it. You can't complain about a movie being exactly what the title says it's going to be. It's a low budget film, but they did a pretty good job with it. It's great for what it is! And I expected it to be about God, religion, and miracles because I looked at the title. Go into knowing what it is and you will like it. If you go into expecting it to be a big budget Hollywood film you will be disappointed.

I will start by saying that neither my husband nor I had heard of this event prior to watching the movie, and chose it solely from the small thumbnail on Prime that appeared to have children holding something.

I am still trying to figure out the opening scene of the movie. I plan to rewatch it to see if I missed a key link to the movie. Otherwise I am not sure why it opened the way it did.

Once the movie got going, we both realized the script was terrible. The acting really wasn't as bad as I originally thought. There is only so much an actor can do with bad lines and a choppy narrative. I would have enjoyed learning more about the protagonist's background and motivation. We quickly saw that the movie was faith-based, but the lines questioning God seemed forced into the script and out of place. I really can't fault the actors, and as the movie progressed we did see more emotion evoked.

The first half of the movie unfolds the events of the Bombing. The protagonist delivered lines awkwardly and felt stereotypical. The children and adults seemed way too calm and quiet. I think scenes should have depicted the severity of the situation better than they did and that the script should have also reflected this. Instead some lines were delivered almost comically and we found ourselves chucking at how bad it was.

The second half of the movie on the other hand, surprised me. I was not expecting the director to finally delve into the families lives. Disclaimer! I am Pagan to best describe my faith and my husband is Indigenous. We do not follow or believe Christian teachings but we do believe people should follow what speaks to them. I was not offended by the religious tone of the movie, in fact, that much was apparent within the first 15 minutes. Everything depicted in the second half of the movie spoke to me in my own way. I felt awed by the power of intention that day and I think it's brilliant the survivors chose to focus on a miracle rather than a tragedy.

Again, the questioning of God felt forced into the second half, and I really think it could have been approached in a more fluid way. That said, I think the second half of the movie really saved the first half.

I think the movie is for anyone. I don't think one has to be a believer to enjoy it. People just have to be able to withstand terrible writing, awkward scenes, forced emotion and a lack of background detail to get into it. The spiritual aspect was a non-issue. People criticizing it are biased in their reviews, but so are the people giving it 10 out of 10 because of their religious beliefs. If you just watch the movie for what it is, you will see exactly what I mean.

This is a film about faith. I imagine many people who watch it may be aware of that beforehand. But if you weren't, and it projects ideals you disagree with, it is best to acknowledge that in a civil, thoughtful, non-attacking way.

Often, if I am critical of material I find offensive (excessive, gratuitous violence and gore, or pornography) I get the injured (and ironically, almost pious) response of "Well, if you don't want to see it, don't watch it." Then they adamantly add "But don't criticize my choices or get in my way." And they cite the First Amendment.

That works in both directions. Realize it. Acknowledge it. Embrace it.

I honestly can't help but laugh at these negative reviews about this movie. If you don't like the acting, effects, etc., fine, but giving the movie 1 star because you don't like the way the miracles in the movie were shown is stupid. The accounts of angels and miracles are documented by real people who went through this terrible situation. Whether they're true or not is besides the point. Some people on here are saying "Why would God save them and not others," but this is a question unrelated to this movie's quality and presentation. It's like giving God Himself or the kids who told gave these accounts 1 star. The director and actors presented a documented story as told by real people. They didn't take any liberties or choose the way the story ended. If you're not religious, you probably won't appreciate the movie, but don't blame the directors for making "religious propaganda" or relating events that "don't make sense if God is a just god." The events did happen, or at least that's what the children said. Take it up with them if you don't believe it.