Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Book-based faith-based drama has mature themes.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
The Reason
What's the Story?
In THE REASON, Brooke (Sara Antonio) is an unmarried mom down on her luck and staying with the generous blind Pastor Jim (Louis Gossett Jr.) and his gracious wife Shirley (Beverly Todd). When her 6-year-old son Alex (Charlie Ray Reid) is diagnosed with leukemia, Brooke informs Ian (Kristopher Wente) for the first time that a drunken night they spent together resulted in Alex. Although angry at first, Ian steps up as a dad and as a bone marrow donor. Alex's doctor Macey (Tatyana Ali) becomes emotionally involved in her efforts to save the boy. His nurse Kaitlyn (Kelly Carlson) fights her own demons because of unspecified childhood abuse. All struggle to maintain their faith even while the pastor urges them to be grateful. Kenneth (Alan Powell) comes out of nowhere to miraculously resurrect a church's cross damaged by lightning. He seems to restore the pastor's sight and heal Macey's former patient, all the while preaching that they'll all be fine if they "only believe." Not everything turns out fine, but that's okay, too, according to Kenneth.
Is It Any Good?
The Reason is a faith-based story that exploits tragedy to instruct us in the need to believe in God, even in tough times, offering the characters odd bits of magic to hold them until faith arrives. For believers, the message will resonate, as performances are good and the movie is a competently made message-delivery vehicle. Those who don't look to movies for instructions on how to live, or subscribe to the beliefs therein, will find this cloying and downright unrealistic. For example, doctors don't spend all their time waiting hand and foot on one single patient, as portrayed here.
Unlike other more successful movies about the possibility of spiritual underpinnings, such as It's a Wonderful Life or The Bishop's Wife, this lacks much in the way of creativity and the spark of whimsy that makes medicine go down easier. When a long-lost necklace shows up right after a family member's death, it's viewed as a God-proving miracle and posed as some kind of compensation for terrible loss. It suggests that the dead person is "doing well" somewhere other than among the living. To compare the value of a necklace with the value of a loved one will surely seem absurdly insensitive to anyone who has experienced grief.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the connections between religious faith and whether life goes smoothly or badly for people. Do you think believers live better lives? Why or why not?
What does the movie say to those who have suffered terrible losses with regard to believing or not believing in God?
Why do you think believers might lose faith in the face of a terrible event in life?
Would non-believers enjoy this movie? Why or why not?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : December 15, 2020
- Cast : Louis Gossett Jr. , Tatyana Ali , Beverly Todd , Kelly Carlson , Alan Powell , Burgess Jenkins , Kristopher Wente , Michael Montgomery , Charlie Ray Reid
- Director : Randall Stevens
- Inclusion Information : Black Movie Actor(s) , Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Universal
- Genre : Drama
- Run time : 84 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : January 5, 2021
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