I CAN ONLY IMAGINE 2: 2 ½ STARS. “an earnest movie about how resilient faith can be.”
SYNOPSIS: In “I Can Only Imagine 2,” a Christian biographical drama now playing in theatres, a successful musician battles inner demons to plot a path through personal adversity.
CAST: John Michael Finley, Milo Ventimiglia, Sophie Skelton, Arielle Kebbel, Sammy Dell, Trace Adkins, Dennis Quaid. Directed by Andrew Erwin and Brent McCorkle.
REVIEW: A sequel to 2018’s “I Can Only Imagine,” the new film sees John Michael Finley reprise his role as Bart Millard, frontman of Christian band MercyMe. The breakout success of the band’s single “I Can Only Imagine” made his dreams come true, but success didn’t bring happiness.
As the band prepare for a make-or-break arena tour, two members cash in their chips. Worse, at home things are strained between Bart and his wife Shannon (Sophie Skelton) in the wake of their 17-year-old son Sam’s (Sammy Dell) diagnosis of type 1 diabetes.
“It’s hard,” says Bart. “Why does it have to be so hard?”
MercyMe’s manager Scott (Trace Adkins) suggests Bart stay at home and concentrate on his family and writing a new single, but Bart wants to hit the road.
“It is the only place I feel I like I can breathe again. Stuff is falling apart at home. I need this.”
On the road, Bart learns life lessons from his opening act Tim Timmons (Milo Ventimiglia), a singer-songwriter with an unlikely name and an unusual form of cancer. “One of those rare ones,” he says. “There’s no roadmap for it.” From Tim, and with his faith, Bart finds the courage to face life’s uncertainties, and maybe even write a new hit song.
“What did you think,” says Scott, “you were going to ride off into the sunset with no more struggles, no more pain? That’s not how this thing works.”
“I Can Only Imagine 2” asks Bart what comes next after your dreams come true and your single tops the charts? But this is no sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll tale. It’s an inspirational faith-based road trip that leaves the spicy tour stories for “MTV’s Behind the Music.” Wholesome and somewhat predictable, it may avoid the clichés of most music movies but isn’t shy about leaning into the formula that made the original 2018 film a hit.
Bart’s inner battles with his rocky past relationship with his father (Dennis Quaid), and the present situations with his family and band, are a launch pad for the film’s messages of maintaining faith through anguish, and as such, are effectively portrayed. It’s a story of renewal of faith and spiritual growth that works when co-directors Andrew Erwin and Brent McCorkle lay off the sentimentality, which is not often enough.
Still, despite a predictable outcome with some soppiness along the way, “I Can Only Imagine 2” is an earnest, tuneful movie targeted at churchgoers, about how resilient faith can be.
