Papa, can you hear me?
Singer performs a song of love to his earthly and heavenly fathers
If you’ re unfamiliar with I Can Only Imagine (it’s only the bestselling Christian contemporary single of all time), spare four minutes and eight seconds to acquaint yourself with it. Then, if you’re curious 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 he 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 Erwin 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 else’s line from earlier in the film back at them, like an ironic tennis volley. And the romantic subplot follows a metronome beat. Nothing special here.
But the real love stories in this movie are between a father and son; a man and his God; and a singer and his song. It opens with young Bart backed by the raucous strains of Don’t Bring Me Down by E.L.O. No fair guessing what song it ends on.