90 Minutes in Heaven - C-

Rated PG-13, 121 minutes

There's no denying that Don Piper's story is inspirational, or even true, though it has to be much better than the bland treatment it's given in the sluggish and dramatically hollow faith-based movie "90 Minutes in Heaven," based on Piper's best-selling novel of the same name. Though it doesn't browbeat like some other recent Christian films have done (I won't mention any names, "War Room") treads the same ground as the 2014 film "Heaven is for Real," though that in fact that story turned out not to be real. Piper (Hayden Christensen), was involved in a horrific car crash and was pronounced dead at the scene in January 1989 and covered by a tarp. 90 minutes later he had been brought to the emergency room and returns to life, claiming to have seen Heaven and visited with deceased relatives while there. Directed and written by Michael Polish ("Twin Falls Idaho"), "90 Minutes in Heaven" is a likable movie with two appealing leads and it's premise is certainly inspirational, it lacks any sort of passion or emotional, dramatic shape. The movie works hard, maybe too hard at times to be inspiring, and while it's honorable to have a faith-based message that's not forcing its message down your throat, it could've generated more interest in its subject. Much of the film is actually spent not on Don's time in Heaven, but on his slow, painful recovery, and the toll it took on he and his family, particularly his long-suffering wife Eva, played by the lovely Kate Bosworth (and as a side note, the real Eva has written her own companion book to this, "A Walk Though the Dark" with her own speaking ministry). Don's visions of Heaven are told in great detail here, but it's still a disappointment considering the promise and beauty it holds for many, not to mention little else happens in the movie. With some decent production values, this is not as heavy-handed as some in this burgeoning genre, it's still boring and uneven, with a slow-as-molasses second act that may lose its audience; I also didn't really buy into Christensen, one of cinema's most annoying actors, as ordained minister Piper. The unsatisfying "90 Minutes in Heaven" is a big disappointment, not because it's offensive, but because it may put you to sleep.