“Cause if the Gospel can change that dude, the Gospel can change anybody, you know?”

From I Can Only Imagine.

Young Bart Millard (Brody Rose) is trapped in a life with an angry, abusive father (Dennis Quaid) whose only escape is through music.  When his mother leaves his father, as well as Bart, things become even worse for the boy and his life is filled with even more violence and hate.  By the time Bart (J. Michael Finley) is preparing to graduate high school the only positive things in his life are his grandmother (Cloris Leachman), girlfriend (Madeline Carroll), and growing faith.  After the teacher of his required elective overhears him singing, Bart is cast as the lead in the school musical and he considers singing as a career.  As the trouble at home continues to escalate, Bart decides to leave home and everything else behind after graduation; his desire to sing soon leads to him creating/joining a band called MercyMe.  While the Christian band finds some success over the first few years, it is not until Bart begs a well-known manager, Brickell (Trace Adkins), to represent them do they have the opportunity to aim for record label companies.  However, when various labels turn the band down because of song authenticity/sell-ability, everything else in Bart’s life also begins to fall apart, so he returns home to face his father and the emotional walls that are keeping him from writing the genuine songs that he so desperately desires to create.

This movie is based on the true life story of Millard and his creation of one of Christian music’s most famous songs.  It is a captivating story from start to finish, filled with more than enough highs and lows to keep the story engaging for viewers of all backgrounds.  Finley and Quaid shine in their roles, each playing the polar opposite of their strongly-interwoven characters.  Another very enjoyable aspect of the movie is the main score that constantly hints to the finished song for which the movie is named; it allows the audience to easily connect Millard’s life with the development of the award-winning song.  I Can Only Imagine is a must-see for anyone that has every listened to the powerful song.

| Rated: PG | Running Time: 110 minutes |Genre: biography/faith/music |

||Family Viewing||Cursing: 0 of 10|Nudity: 0 of 10|Sexuality: 0 of 10|Gore: 1 of 10

|AVAILABLE FOR HOME VIEWING|