Customer Reviews

Small Miracles

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Taliesin Jones, the triumphant first film from Tulsa-based Impact Entertainment to see a national release, differs from mainstream Hollywood films in three ways. First, its character-driven, which means that the actors have to carry the film by showing character development and growth, instead of dodging bullets and explosions. Second, its about a thought-provoking philosophical concept  in this case, the existence and nature of God  which most movies dont even both with anymore. Third, the way it handles that concept sets Jones apart from other films that attempt the same, and ultimately fail.

Jones, from a book by the same name by Welsh author Rhidian Brook, follows its title character (newcomer John-Paul Macleod), a 12-year-old from a broken home in working-class Wales. His father scrapes out a living by farming, and Taliesin alternately dodges abuse from his bullying older brother and his classmates at school. Taliesins life is changed when, during his piano lessons, his elderly teacher Billy (the late Ian Bannen in his last role) introduces Billy to faith-healing. Soon, Taliesin tries the power of prayer on himself and is miraculously cured of warts. Building a community around faith-healing, Tals belief in this newfound concept of God is shattered when his activities nearly lead to the death of a local diabetic boy. Afterwards, Taliesin begins to re-examine what he believes and, more importantly, why he believes what he does.

The fact that Jones postulates an answer to one of lifes ultimate philosophical questions isnt unique, but what sets it apart is that the movie fails to cave in to simplistic, sound-byte style philosophy. Those who have done any amount of philosophical inquiry know that lifes truths cannot be summarized in a quick quote or a simple phrase, and to do so wrecks the beautiful inquiry that makes discovering those truths so unique. Unlike other recent Christian movie-fare, like Left Behind and The Omega Code, Taliesin Jones offers the audience a journey of experience, and one that it doesnt necessarily shove down peoples throats, either. Although God is certainly the focus of the film, a belief in a Christian God is just one possible explanation for what happens, and Taliesins personal concept of God develops in a way that leads him from the trappings of religious immaturity to the makings of an adult.

Most movies cannot manage to even get the sound-byte philosophy right in two-hours-plus; Jones manages to encapsulate one possible philosophical experience in its brief 95 minutes. For those of us tired of movies that simply pander and cater, Taliesin Jones is a refreshing break from the mainstream. The film wouldnt have come together without the strength of the actors involved, and the levels of talent that fully realize the characters is also a relief a movie environment increasingly ruled by cardboard stereotypes. Taliesin Jones is not a film to miss.

This film has much to recommend it to both Christians and non-Christians as it tackles the issues of faith and what happens to that faith when things don't work out the way a person wants them to.

At first Taliesin isn't sure why he believes in God, but he knows that he does believe. Then he sees what he considers to be tangible evidence of God in the form of miracles,especially the healing of his own warts, only to have those miracles cease and his faith thrown into crisis. This movie exposes the view of 'God as a vending machine' that many people seem to have today. They believe that a person can put in his 75 cents worth of prayer and his miracle should be released to him. Thankfully, Taliesin's piano teacher, a faith 'healer', readily admits that his prayers don't always work, though that doesn't mean that God doesn't listen or doesn't care. The fact is that if God did heal someone or resurrect a person every time He was asked to, then no one would ever die.

True faith means living with the fact of troubles in life and the awareness of our eventual death, and yet still believing that God is good, cares for us, and has made provision for both our earthly and eternal lives through Jesus. Taliesin's true healing, and the bigger miracle, is when he comes to realize these things and is able to come to grips with the fact that his mother will not be returning to the family. I think the filmmakers may have missed out on an attempt to emphasize this point again with the final scene. In this scene the class bully asks Taliesin to pray for the healing of one of his fingers which was half-severed off. The viewer gets the idea that the bully also has emotional scars which need healing far worse than his finger does; however, I admit that to protract this scene and re-emphasize a point already made might well have been heavy-handed (or even ham-handed), so I can't fault them too much for this.

The bottom line, again, is that for both believers and non-believers, this movie demonstrates what faith is: it is "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).

I became totally absorbed in the movie the moment I began to watch it. For fear of revealing to much and ruining it for you, let me just say your heart will be warmed and you might even become a better person for watching this terrific piece of cinematic wonder. Highly Recommended!!!

Small Miracles is a warm, funny, inspiring story with great performances from a superb cast. Jonathan Pryce is perfect as a somewhat befuddled father. Ian Bannen, in his last film, delivers a heart warming performance. New commer John Paul Macleod is enchanting as a young boy with good instincts and a soaring imagination.

I can't review the movie itself except correction. Amazon.com has this movie as closed-captioned under Product Details (Format field). Really, this movie doesn't have it. I have to return the DVD for refund.

This film was originally titled The Testimony of Taliesin Jones. It is named for the hero, a little Welsh boy whose mother leaves his farm family for a life in town. His experiences are touching, and seem to involve a gift of healing.

Delightful, beautiful, deserves to be better known than it is.

Small miracles is one of the rarest of movies. It offers the sentimentality of innocence, the beauty of a rich storyline, the power of messages we all should understand, and acting of the most superior kind. What we see here is definitive cinema in its purest form. As the young man discovers that there are some things that you just can't change and certain aspects around you that perhaps shouldn't change anyway, we are left in awe of this young man's struggles with all that his coming of age entails. His revelation that "adults used to have all the answers, yet now they seem unsure" is a perfect example of the battles that rage on inside every adolescent, and deeper plot devices elsewhere within the movie deliver on this all too pubescent human characteristic. In short, This movie did so much more than entertain me while I watched it. It is a work of true human strength and the realization of weakness. It is a true cinematic triumph that will have you crying tears of joy and sadness, often at the same time. 5.5 stars

Much as the religious reviewers below would like non-religious people to see and like this movie, the fact remains that this is a religious movie, a softcore religious movie, yes, but a religious movie nonetheless. Non-religious people will not be impressed or moved by this adolescent's struggles with whether God exists or whether faith-healing works. Religious people will be hoping he believes these things. Nonreligious people will be hoping he gets over it and grows up. You can't please both audiences.

We are also told that this movie is "character-driven". This term has become a standard excuse for making a movie boring. The fact is that a character-driven movie does not have to be boring. This is simply a myth (a lie) that inept moviemakers have concocted because they don't know how to make a movie interesting without resort to the genre techniques of action, etc. They need to learn more about screenwriting so that they can make a movie interesting without action, fireworks or whatever--not hide behind magic words like "character-driven."

Small Miracles is slow--very slow--but not dull. The slice of life is an interesting one--at least for Americans who are not familiar with current life in Wales or wherever. None of the characters is particularly appealing or particularly interesting, but they are realistic enough. Making them one or the other would have helped the movie enormously. Again, screenwriter ineptitude must be blamed.

The blurb writer says the movie contains "coming-of-age" material (read, girls) and bullying. There is in fact no romantic interest in the movie and hardly any interaction with schoolmates. He does get punched out, but no more. The blurb writer was right, though. The movie would have been better with these elements.

One technical problem: the sound. The volume jumps ten decibels in some scenes--enough to damage your speakers--whereas in the other scenes the characters murmur their lines so quietly that you have to turn up your volume to hear them. Add the problems contributed by the dialect, and you've got your work cut out for you just to understand what they are saying (and I'm usually quite adept at picking up dialects, especially those from the British Isles).

The visuals used to try to show the imaginings of the boy were klutzy--flying dragons maybe for a child of five. The memory moments were also clumsily handled.

Bottom line: Don't even think of seeing this movie unless you are religious. Even then, I don't guarantee that you will especially like it. It's a lightweight, drab movie with a mildly interesting setting and no characters to speak of.