Father and son,a man and his God and a singer and his song

what could drive a man to write such a tune, check out the film by the same name.

Broadway actor J. Michael Finley stars as Bart Millard, lead vocalist for MercyMe, which released the song in 2001. Millard was inspired by memories of his father, who died when was 18, and by thoughts of his Father, who art in heaven. He estimates it took him about 10 minutes to write; someone in the film says you need a lifetime to come up with something like that, and the movie duly delivers that life.

Directed by the Irwin brothers, Andrew and Jon (Moms’ Night Out), I Can Only Imagine has better production values and a less overt message than many a Christian-themed movie; the screenplay name-checks A New Hope almost as often as it does the New Testament.

Finley, aged 29, has a rough time playing Millard at 17, but if you suspend your disbelief for a while the part eventually catches up with him. Trace Adkins adds a note of musical royalty, playing MercyMe’s manager. And Dennis Quaid turns in a nuanced performance in what could have been a one-note “bad dad” role. Though I wish the film hadn’t shied away from showing how violent he apparently was in Bart’s youth; it makes his son’s estrangement seem churlish.

And the screenplay has its hackneyed moments. Exhibit A: The ol’ “There is no way you are ever going to get me to — ” line, followed by a cut to the person doing that very thing. Exhibit B: The scene where someone throws someone’s else line from earlier in the film back at them, like an ironic tennis volley. And the romantic subplot, with Madeline Carroll as Bart’s love-at-first-sight (but