Redemption. This word brings a lot of things to mind. You can redeem airline miles and take a vacation. You can redeem yourself by trying a little harder at a hard task. I Can Only Imagine, the movie, is about the most precious kind of redemption.
Bart Millard was a good kid with a secret to hide—a secret that ate him on the inside. I Can Only Imagine is Bart’s story, a true story he waited decades to share. In 1985 Bart’s life in Greenville, Texas, was good—or so it seemed. Bart’s mom loves her son and his happy, creative nature. She loves that he’s a dreamer. His father, Arthur, not so much. 
One day Adele, Bart’s mom, drops him off at church camp. He reconnects with a young girl named Shannon who he’d seen around school. She is quite taken with young Bart and they start a lifelong friendship. When Bart returns home after a spiritual transformation at camp, his mother is gone. All that is left of his home life is a broken-down house and an abusive father. His father’s explanation? Mom left, just you and me now…
Arthur’s (Dennis Quaid) dreams of being a professional football player had been dashed on the rocks of pain and disappointment when he was injured. His dreams were dead and so was his hope for a future that held more than the rolling Texas Hills and a job as a mechanic. Bart the dreamer, was doomed to living his life with the dreamless.
Somehow Bart (J. Michael Finley) still wanted to make his father proud so he played football until one game he was tackled and left with two broken legs. Game ended. After his injury, Bart finds himself rolling around school in a wheelchair and assigned a new class, Choir! He agrees to take on the media since he believes he can’t sing. While “rockin out” at the media table one day when he thinks he’s alone, his teacher, Mrs. Fincher (Priscilla Shirer), hears him singing and casts him as the lead in the next show. And as they say, the rest is history.
In case you don’t know, Bart Millard ends up starting the Christian band, Mercy Me. It wasn’t an easy road, nor a short one. They struggled even after they were taken on by Nashville insider and Band Manager Scott Brickell (Trace Adkins), but they’ve been at the top of the charts for a couple of decades now and are still thriving.
I Can Only Imagine is a powerful movie named after a powerful song…the number-one selling Christian song of all time—Triple Platinum!
I don’t usually review movies that aren’t on DVD yet but here I am breaking my rule. If this movie is still in the theaters when you read this, GO. If not, jot the title down and remember to see it when it comes out on video. The cast is amazing! I Can Only Imagine is not “preachy” and can definitely be appreciated by even those who don’t go to church. There are powerful lessons to be learned and, you might find “joy in the morning”! Redemption is Real.
As always, let me know what you think at carolyn@carolynhastings.com.
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