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Letters to God
User Score
4.8 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 25 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 25
  3. Negative: 13 out of 25

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  1. ChadS
    Apr 14, 2010
    3
    To me, there's more spirituality coursing through the celluloid of Robert Bresson's "Au hasard Balthazar" than this Christian recruitment tool for people who love God, not movies. To me, there's more signs of God in the titular donkey than the church where Brady(Jeffrey Johnson), an alcoholic mailman, finds redemption after a DUI arrest with his son present in the stopped vehicle. But to its credit, "Letters to God" does include a scene in which infidels can relate to, because finally, somebody makes sense. Maddie(Robin Lively), the mother of a young boy stricken with brain cancer, tells her own mom, "Stop quoting the Bible to me. It's not curing my son." She disagrees with God's will, so for a little while, in a loaded film which preaches to the converted, "Letters to God" becomes accesible to those who believe that having faith is "religilous". In her darkest hour, when Maddie can no longer pretend that supplication has the power to repel the cancer cells from ravaging her son Tyler(Tanner Maguire), Olivia(Maree Cheatham), instead of talking like a grown-up, offers her daughter platitudes, a stock choice of words that confronts the matter at hand with magic. (Like Sarah Silverman says, "Jesus is magic!") This mother's flare-up creates a slight rupture in the Christian-based rhetoric of the filmic text, which, incidentally, is the film's only sane moment because "Letters to God" sees tragedy with rose-tinted glasses. Because Tyler drinks the ideological kool-aid, he sees a newly-born baby as being his replacement. In the bedroom, Maddie tells her son otherwise, that he can't be supplanted, but this is exactly what the movie intimates, and believes. Earlier in the film, his best friend's grandfather tells the sick boy about how he was "handpicked by God" and "chosen for the role of a lifetime". "Dying is Fine", in a sense, because God's will and plan can't be cross-examined under the strictest sense of church dogma. But Tyler couldn't be faulted if he changed his mind about death, echoing the John Ryan Pike(of Ra Ra Riot) line: "You know that dying is fine, but maybe I wouldn't like death if death were good."… Expand
    • 4 of 4 users said yes
  2. DougV
    Apr 21, 2010
    10
    This movie had great acting and the ability to show both the good and bad involved in the events. On the one hand you had those that faith in the healing. On the other hand you had those that were trying to focus on physical only. That is a common struggle in real life and they brought it out well here too.
    • 2 of 3 users said yes
  3. PaulE
    Apr 11, 2010
    8
    I find it not surprising that the majority of negative reviews come from so-called critics who will give "Thumbs up" to the highly controversial sex laden tripe that liberals seem to relish.
    • 0 of 2 users said yes
  4. ChristyL
    Apr 12, 2010
    10
    I watched this movie with my 6 year old daughter on opening night and I was so impressed!! The movie was funny and very emotional. As an actress, I was also impressed with their acting. Some lower budget films don't have the best acting, but this one was much different. I especially enjoyed the portrayal of the mom and best friend. They both were very believable and I found myself identifying with each of them. I think that's what it's all about. After all, if you can't feel like you are a part of the movie, you aren't interested. The movie was so touching, encouraging, and challenging. If you aren't moved by this movie, you might want to check your heart beat! … Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  5. SandyB
    Apr 13, 2010
    9
    This movie portrays real life and raw humanity that anyone can identify with. I found it inspiring and challenging, which is why the criticism of this film, its makers, and its cast does not surprise me.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  6. BenA
    Apr 15, 2010
    0
    This film finally made me realize that there is no god.
    • 0 of 2 users said yes
  7. BarbaraI.
    Apr 17, 2010
    10
    This movie was amazing. It is nice to see a good clean movie once in a while and this was just that. Don't get me wrong, I do like good movies that have all the junk in them but it is nice to avoid it sometimes too.
    • 0 of 1 users said yes
  8. BrendaB
    Apr 19, 2010
    8
    I thought that the movie was good. It's easy to dismiss this as another one of those preachy films but I thought that the movie addressed topics that made it unique. I liked that it showed the struggle among the characters in keeping their faith, since we've all reached a point in our lives where we just felt like giving up. If you allow yourself to believe, then you will appreciate this film.… Expand
    • 0 of 1 users said yes
  9. JasonC.
    Apr 19, 2010
    10
    I have heard from so many friends who went to see this movie that it is a must see. I plan on going next weekend with the whole family!
    • 0 of 2 users said yes
  10. mandm1951
    Nov 10, 2010
    1
    Oy Vey; we should have known better. My girlfriend (who is spiritual and somewhat religious) and I (an agnostic) rented this film because it was on sale but couldn't get through the whole thing. There is a group of (probably mostly church-going) people who will like -or love- this movie, but we found it preachy, pious, proselytizing, and all too predictable.
  11. Gamingking007
    Oct 18, 2010
    10
    Incredible movie it completely Changed my life!!!People who are not soft or don't have a close personal relationship with God will not enjoy this but if they do it will change their lives forever!!!:-)
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Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
31 out of 100

Generally unfavorable - based on 7 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 7
  3. Negative: 3 out of 7
  1. Orlando Sentinel
    Reviewed by: Roger Moore
    38
    Good looking (it was filmed in Winter Garden) but slow and bland, this faith-based tear-jerker is a depressingly unemotional affair, with writing and some of the acting so flat that even its emotionally loaded situations can't inspire waterworks.
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  2. Variety
    Reviewed by: Justin Chang
    40
    While only the converted will likely see the redemption behind the manipulation, picture delivers a strong enough dose of spiritual saccharine to yield solid if not heavenly returns from its trusty target audience.
    Read full review
  3. Boxoffice Magazine
    Reviewed by: Pete Hammond
    30
    Letters to God is far too simplistic and pandering to find success outside of the targeted church-going family moviegoers it's hoping to reach.
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