A Sentimental Film Lost With Its Messaging

PLOT: Bart Millard, lead singer of MercyMe, faces a personal crisis at the peak of his success. As his world unravels, he struggles with his beliefs and inner demons while seeking a path through adversity.

REVIEW: I should state right off the bat that I’m far from the faith based target audience for I Can Only Imagine 2, but I am aware of the band MercyMe. In fact, back in my middle school days, I saw the band perform live. So I do feel like I have some kind of experience with this music, even if it’s not my bag these days.

I Can Only Imagine 2 follows Bart Millard as he tries to lead his band MercyMe after their initial happy ending, but has issues at home that make him depressed. There is an interesting story there about what happens after you find big success, and where do you go from there now that you’ve tackled the mountain? But it’s more focused on Bart feeling like he’s failed as a father (which he states while providing for his big family, in his big house). Broadway star John Michael Finley does a good job as Bart, though it feels like his drama is just there for the sake of it. Milo Ventimiglia gives a good performance as Tim Timmons, a core member of the bad, even if the character himself is more annoying than anything. Dennis Quaid mostly shows up in archive footage, though he does get a quite meaningful flashback at one point.

The first film is about how Bart grew up and the creation of his Christian hit song, from which the film’s title is based. This sequel tries to show what it’s like for a musician to move forward after initial success and the struggles that may come with it, but it feels lost in its messaging. The lesson appears to be that you just need to create another hit song that catches on and brings massive success. So it’s kind of just hitting the same beats, but rather than starting from the bottom, we’re following them on a headlining tour. It’s hard to really feel like the band or the characters are really struggling in any significant way.

There’s so much manufactured drama here, and much of it feels unnecessary. One of the main conflicts of the entire movie is that Bart’s son Sam has Type 1 Diabetes. He has a lot of guilt regarding the fact that he has to hurt his kid by sticking him with a needle, and it reminds him of the abuse he endured by his father. You’d think this would be a slight subplot, but it extends the entire runtime and gets resolved in a montage. Sam gets mad at his father because he can’t take responsibility for his own health and remember to take his insulin. It comes across so childish, and even winding up in the hospital doesn’t teach him that he needs to remember to actually keep after his blood sugar levels. Instead, he’s just rewarded with a spot on the tour due to Bart’s guilt, versus Sam actually showing some initiative.

I Can Only Imagine 2 is packed full of random subplots yet none of them ever seen to really matter. It feels like the writer is just throwing a dart at a board covered with as many dramatic tropes as you can think of. Cancer? Check. Random pregnancy? Check. Son being mad at his father? You better believe that’s a check. I know that this is based on a true story but it’s all presented in such a rapid fire way that none of it even feels real. The ending text summary of what happened to everyone is real life just further adds to the feeling of “What was even the point of this film?”

However, it must be said that the music is well done and it was nice to see Red Rocks Amphitheater get such a spotlight as it is one of the greatest places to see a concert on the planet. But the messaging feels a bit lost and the focus is in the wrong spots. There are multiple times where characters are preaching to the viewer and it all feels very on the nose. I’m sure fans of MercyMe will enjoy seeing this but I’m really not sure the story transcends the faith-based audience for those without prior investment in the band. However, the target audience will no doubt appreciate it.

I Can Only Imagine 2 is now playing in theaters.