This was a great story that could have been a great movie. But everything (except Dennis Quaid) was off. The writing was off, the casting was off, many of the scenes were off. I get that they wanted the guy from the Broadway play to star in this, but having him play the 17-year-old was just odd. He's hanging around these kids in his high school and he looks 35. They make a joke about it, but he doesn't look like a 17-year-old that looks older. He looks like a 35-year-old playing a teen and it was just weird. This could have been a really good movie, and I'm sure many will enjoy it for the redemption theme, but I was disappointed.
I Can Only Imagine tells the story of the writing of the titular song. Coming from hard times, it tells the life story of Bart Millard, who is the lead singer of MercyMe, a Christian band. His father was brutal as a child, so Bart wants little to do with him. Can Bart forgive his father for being such a monster?
I like the message of the movie and what it was trying to do, but it was just so sloppy. There were still moments that I got choked up, but this really could have been a better movie. There's very little humor in it, the casting of teen Bart was off, and so many scenes that could have been good just weren't. They needed to put more effort into the movie instead of giving us what they did. I know many people will enjoy it, but it will be in spite of the movie and because of the story.