Joel on Film

I Can Only Imagine 2 is no longer really the story of Bart Millard (John Michael Finley), the lead vocalist of contemporary Christian music group MercyMe, and that’s a welcome change. After all, 2018’s I Can Only Imagine clumsily tried to combine a should-be-inspiring biography with the sobering story of a son and his abusive father, so that each side of the plot suffered for being welded to the other. The biopic elements were entirely generic, based solely around the eponymous mega-hit song (a genuinely good one, by the way, within the context of a genre that gradually has started to sound like the same thing sung over and over again), and strangely paradoxical as faith-based stories go.

In other words, that earlier movie seemed to be focused far more upon Bart’s rising reputation among his musical contemporaries than the heavenly father to whom the actual music was allegedly devoted, and the film was kind of a well-meaning mess as a result. This sequel, arriving eight years later, finds Bart in the static mode of having plateaued as a hitmaker for his label and the band manager Scott Brickell (Trace Adkins). It’s certainly not what one would have expected from a follow-up story, though in a way, perhaps it’s more honestly reflective of the life of its subject than a way for screenwriter Brent McCorkle to cheat on a dramatic level.

The song, as fans of the group will know, was a game-changer in every sense of the term—for the band, for its members, and for the direction of the genre itself. Ten years later, though, that train has left the proverbial station, and MercyMe is back to filling in spots as an accompanying act. A chance to be headliner once again comes up when Scott’s other managed act decides to go on hiatus right before a big tour, but a small hiccup emerges for the group: Their biggest album and hit are not exactly raking in sales anymore, meaning this might be their last chance to prove something.

All this is fine enough as a story, mainly because it’s about the humility that comes after years of stardom and success, but it’s not the reason that the film, directed by McCorkle and Andrew Erwin (returning from the first movie, but without his sibling filmmaker and partner), is so surprisingly moving. In something of a reversal—or, perhaps, a sobering funhouse mirror—of the first film (which tried to make something of the volatile bond between Bart and his father Arthur, played by Dennis Quaid), there’s another parent-child story to be told here whose nature is something of a pleasant surprise. Bart now has a son named Sam (Sammy Dell), whose type-1 diabetes is a struggle to maintain for a musician father constantly on the road.

A unique solution to their gradually detaching relationship, though, arises when Bart impulsively mentions the idea of bring Sam on tour with the band and their new opening act and Scott challenges him to do so. Bart’s wife Shannon (now played by Sophie Skelton) will stay home with their other children, and indeed, it’s nice to see how this relationship has transformed into one of mutual respect and trust. The time apart isn’t easy, but the filmmakers are smart about not trying to concoct any easy melodrama out of it.

That leaves Bart and Sam to grow acquainted with each other’s constant presence, with dad trying (and, occasionally, failing) to do everything in the categorically opposite direction of his own father and the son beginning to realize a new dream—performing as a musical act, which those with knowledge of this group’s history are aware will eventually come true. Finley is a much more confident and credible screen presence this time around, playing Bart as a fundamentally decent man worn down by the years and strain. It obviously helps that McCorkle has afforded the actor deeper material with which to work.

If the movie is as much about Sam as about Bart, that also doesn’t account for the most fascinating character here, which is new opener Tim Timmons (Milo Ventimiglia), a for-now aspiring contemporary Christian artist trying to get his foot in the door. The movie might have been a little better focusing entirely on Tim, especially because Ventimiglia is exceptional here in a tricky and surprising role. Tim is very sick and keeping that a secret from everyone, including his own wife (played by Arielle Kebbel), but keeps moving forward—and ritually marking an ‘x’ on his wrist—in tribute to every day he’s been blessed to have.

The combination of the stories does occasionally give each of them a sense of imbalance, and the ultimate trajectory of the movie, as with the first one, is once again a hit song that promises to change everything for these characters. I Can Only Imagine 2 might still be a neat and tidy vision of faith, made for those who wouldn’t hurt to have something more challenging delivered to them, but it’s also undeniably touching and capably made.

Rating: *** (out of ****)