 If you enjoy inspirational movies based on true events, 2018's I Can Only Imagine might be a film to check out. If you lean closer to the surreal, depressing, artistic type movie, well I just talked about Mulholland Drive a few days ago. Let's talk about I Can Only Imagine though today. I Can Only Imagine. Writing a song in 10 minutes, then making it a super successful hit, but that's exactly what this boy Bart did. I know what you're thinking, Bart Simpson Adam? Don't have a cow, man. No, that's not who I'm talking about. This story focuses on Christian singer songwriting legend Bart and his sad upbringing, his rags to riches story. And the only reason I'm even talking about this movie is because YouTube supporter and mythril member Damon S, I hope I said that name correctly, requested it. When you sign up for a mythril membership on Patreon at patreon.com slash adam does movies or on YouTube via the join button option, you can request a movie every so often and I have to review it and talk about it, give a shout out as well. Regardless of whether or not I'm interested in even seeing the film to begin with, and I'm gonna be perfectly frank with you, a movie I never heard of that came out in 2018 following a Christian songwriter slash singer in his rise to success bared very little fruit of interest for this guy. But I went in with an open heart and mind and I was actually pleasantly surprised by this. Do I think it's an amazing movie? No. Did it change me? Did it bring me closer to some higher power? It didn't. But at the same time, it's a very competently made film that has some decent performances, solid production value considering the low budget, and it's a feel good motivational story. Those go a long way in my book. Movies that are based on true stories, no matter how loose or otherwise, I'm not a historian. If the story is compelling, has a reason to be put on screen, and can elicit some sort of emotion from the viewer, then it's worthy of the time. This one did. I found it enjoyable like I would watch in say a Sunday afternoon lifetime movie back in the day. Do I think it's a star is born, levels of quality? No. Do I think you should run out and find this film? Not really. But if you're really into your faith, I think this is a slam dunk. Do I think you have to be a Christian to enjoy this movie? Will it make you feel alienated if you're not? Not at all. Yes, they talk about Jesus. Yes, they talk about a higher power. Most of it is kind of back loaded, I noticed. They kind of want to draw you into it more, and that's okay. I never felt it was preachy. It really is the story of Bart and his abusive upbringing with his deadbeat dad. J. Michael Finley plays Bart. He's a sympathetic character, can be a little annoying at times with some of his aloofness, but I guess that's the character trait, that's the flaw of the person he's playing. Does a fine job. Dennis Quaid plays his father Arthur. He's a rough guy. He's abusive to his wife. He's abusive to Bart. He will in fact drive his wife away, causing Bart to be with the old man alone. It's a sad story. He really is. You feel bad for the kid. And therefore Bart turns to the only constant in his life for support, for guidance, for his moral compass, and that's his faith. A lot of people do this perfectly healthy within reason. Bart grows up on the right path. He tries to do sports like his old man. It doesn't stick. Instead, he ends up getting thrown in the glee club, whereas teacher finds out very early on, this dude's got some pipes on him. This guy can sing. This leads Bart to form a Christian band and go on the road touring, trying to climb the ladder to that next level. The only problem is Bart doesn't have that one song in him. It won't until his relationship with his father is finally put to rest. And doing so leads the guy to write one of the most compelling songs of his career, and a song that will reach a nation becoming the number one Christian song of all time. This guy and his group will produce over 20 number one hits, make a bunch of successful albums, and do a lot of good. This is a quaint little movie to sit through. It was a nice afternoon for me. Nothing more, nothing less. I can definitely see how it's used as a motivational tool for people. If you're into Christian music, if you're into that scene, there's some songs here that you'll probably like and enjoy. And if you're not religious, it's still very watchable. There's no eye rolling moments. At least I didn't have anywhere I was like, oh, give me a break with this. No, it was just a solid feel good film. I think of it like the movie Chef with John Fabra kind of have a similar structure where, you know, the guy's down in his luck. He brings himself up and never really falls much further after that. It's kind of a steady climb, which is good. It's nice to not have such a formulaic, oh, he's up, he's down, he's up, he's down. It did its job, it got in, it got out in under two hours and I'm grateful for that. I'm also hugely grateful for the support on the channel, specifically from Daemonus this week. I apologize again if I butchered the name, the handle, the username. I appreciate you. Thank you for becoming a Mithril member and thank all of you for the support on patreon.com slash adam does movies and YouTube. Please like the video if you enjoyed the commentary. Subscribe if you haven't. I post tons of movie content each and every week and as you can see, it's not always on the big dog of the week. I talk about nostalgic movies. I talk about movies that are under the radar. Really, it's just about movies in general. So hopefully I see you around. Take care.