A Question of Faith

A young pastor, David, is about to take over his father’s very successful large church; ironically, this man of God is so consumed with his work at the church he neglects his twelve year old son Eric by missing important events in his life.  John is the owner of a failing construction company.  Deep in debt, John is pushing his daughter, Michelle, who has an awesome voice, into a singing career in the hope it will solve his money problem.  Kate is a restaurant owner and single mom of a free spirited teenager, Maria, and has a hard time getting her to be more responsible.  As the film unfolds, it’s clear the lives of these three families are about to intertwine.

When Pastor David misses picking up his twelve year old son, Eric, after a basketball game, he has to walk home on his own.  At that same time, Kate’s teenage daughter Maria is in her car paying more attention to her phone than driving.  The inevitable happens and Eric is hit by Maria sending him to the hospital in critical condition.  Meanwhile, the contractor John, pushes his daughter through a singing audition and for unknown reasons she collapses on stage.  It is later discovered she has an incurable heart condition that requires a heart transplant.

Pastor David’s faith is shaken when he is told his son Eric is brain-dead and even though his heart is strong, he will never recover from his brain injury.  After a difficult struggle, Pastor David agrees to allow Eric’s heart to be donated to save the life of the contractor’s daughter, Michelle.  Maria, the teenager who struck down Eric lingers in jail waiting her fate.

In the end, these three families come together in a renewal of faith, understanding, forgiveness, and love.

I had a hard time writing a synopsis for this film because there is so much going on in this story.  The detail of the deeper struggle each character goes through is the heart of this movie.  Exactly how each character deals with their faith and how their interaction with each other opens their eyes to issues that need to be dealt with, makes for a fairly complex tale.  In my view, this complexity can get in the way of the overall story.  You have a pastor who struggles with his faith after a tragedy; a contractor who struggles with his faith because of his failing business and his daughter’s illness; and a young girl who destroys her own life by carelessly taking the life of another.  Each of these scenarios could be a whole movie by itself.  For that reason, what you get here is a fairly abbreviated version of the emotions and spiritual growth process of each character.  If you watch this film with the understanding that some of the character development and backstory are left out, and settle for the important life stages that are shared, you will come away with a satisfying experience.

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