Streaming salvation

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Friday, April 7th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It, another faith-based movie takes off from a major studio.

Movies with Christian themes have been popular with audiences lately. Last weekend at the box office, two Christian movies made the top ten. A film telling the story of Abraham and Isaac—titled His Only Son—had an impressive debut at No. 3, and the surprise hit of February, Jesus Revolution, was still in there at No. 10.

BROWN: It would appear that major studios are starting to realize there’s a market for family-friendly, faith-affirming movies. Today, MGM Studios has a film titled On a Wing and a Prayer. It debuts on Amazon’s Prime Video. But is this faith-based film worth watching on Good Friday? Here’s WORLD’s arts and culture editor Collin Garbarino with a review.

COLLIN GARBARINO: On a Wing and a Prayer is a new faith-based film that dramatizes the true events of Easter 2009, when Doug White and his family got stuck in a plane at 10,000 feet without a pilot.

The story begins when Doug White and his family travel to Florida for his brother’s funeral. Dennis Quaid plays Doug. He’s a successful man with a beautiful family. But Doug struggles with his faith after losing his brother. His wife Terri, played by Heather Graham, tries to offer words of comfort to no avail.

TERRI: I’m so sorry you’re hurting. God’s going to get us through.

DOUG: Well, is that the same God that let this happen.

TERRI: Well, you need to—

DOUG: It’s not going to bring my brother back.

On Easter Sunday they board a private plane to fly home to Louisiana, but ten minutes after takeoff their pilot suffers a heart attack leaving the family on the brink of disaster.

CONTROLLER 1: Fort Myers approach I have a full-on emergency.

CONTROLLER 2: State your emergency.

CONTROLLER 1: King Air Niner Delta Whiskey has an unconscious pilot. He needs help. Can you assist?

A storm is brewing in the Gulf, and air traffic control doesn't have much hope for the situation. An unlikely team forms to help Doug land the plane.

CONTROLLER: We’re getting you some help from another pilot who’s familiar with the airplane.

DOUG: Is he in the control tower with you?

CONTROLLER: From my understanding, he is in Connecticut. But I understand he’s a very skilled and experienced airman.

Through trusting in someone he cannot see, Doug learns to “let go and let God.”

It’s not really a spoiler for me to say that Terri gets the miracle she prayed for and everyone—except the original pilot—arrives back at the airport safely.

This film is another example of the faith-based genre getting marginally better. On a Wing and a Prayer boasts respectable production values with bona fide (albeit aging) stars.

The sets feel authentic. The special effects won’t win prizes, but they are pretty good for a straight-to-streaming film. Some of the performers, especially Graham, might be guilty of overacting—but let’s be honest, some of us Southerners really are that over the top.

TERRI: The girls are fine.

DOUG: I don’t want them to see me panic.

TERRI: Well, you’re not going to panic. The girls are fine. You can do this, Doug! And you sort of have to if you ever want to eat my barbeque sauce again.

On a Wing and a Prayer has a lot going for it. It’s a shame the script is such an awful mess.

Being based on a true story gives this disaster movie a built-in sense of urgency, but the film adds some fictional complications that stretch credulity. The movie also squanders its promising setup with a series of confusing introductions to the various characters.

In true faith-based-movie fashion, the script invents a crisis of faith or inner turmoil for each character. The much-prayed-for miracle inspires everyone who witnessed it to do better.

CAPTAIN: Marco Traffic, King Air November Five Five Niner Delta Whiskey. Runway 1-7 for a southwest departure.

The script is full of pious cliches that strike me as a soft prosperity gospel.

In too many movies like this, someone prays and receives some sort of temporal blessing. It’s not always the success they hoped for, but it’s success nonetheless. Faith-based films are littered with people who begin the movie with bad family relationships. By the end of the movie, someone’s had a change of heart because their “faith has been restored”—whatever that means—and suddenly bad family relationships are good. Faith gets discussed with vague language about God’s goodness or power or mere existence. Doubts and fears are conquered, but precious little gets said about Jesus’ mission to save sinners.

These stories offer a cheap imitation of Jesus’ gospel. Jesus doesn’t promise His followers physical safety, temporal happiness, or healthy relationships. Often He promises the opposite. Once upon a time, the church took inspiration from the stories of the martyrs. What does it say about contemporary Christianity that we want inspiring stories about victories in the here and now? It’s almost as if our faith no longer rests on what is unseen.

Good Friday, above all days, is a day to reflect on the fact that the faithful victorious Christian life might look like defeat to the world.

I’m Collin Garbarino

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