God Works in Mysterious Ways
After being on the end of one beating too many from her alcoholic husband, Lynn (Josie Bissett) along with her children Thomas (Rustin Gresiuk) and Sara (Farryn VanHumbeck) get in their car and leave home. They find a home in a new town where Lynn begins work as a waitress and Thomas when he is not at school looks after his sister Sara. It is at the school where he meets Kevin (Matthew Settle) who helps out coaching basketball but is having a difficult time as not only is his business struggling but his wife is pregnant with twins and it is a complicated pregnancy. With Thomas being a talented basketball player he gets on with Kevin and they unknowingly have an impact on each others lives as Lynn puts Thomas and Sara's names in The Salvation Armys Angel Tree Program.
God works in mysterious ways. How do you feel when you hear those five words? Does the mention of God anger you or do you agree with it. The reasons why I ask is that if you are not a fan of religious/ Christian movies then you may not enjoy "Paper Angels" an openly religious movie about belief, kindness, charity, friendship as well as highlighting The Salvation Army's Angel Tree Program. On the other hand, if you believe that God has a guiding hand on our lives and sometimes what we want is not really what we think we want then I recommend watching "Paper Angels".
As for me, well I straddle the fence as I have no objection to religious/ Christian movies but sometimes they can seem to false by trying to be too good hearted Unfortunately "Paper Angels" whilst having a good heart suffers from that sense of kindness which is not real. Now to explain would be to give the plot and the mystery away but what I will say is that there is Thomas who when they start handing out Sainthoods could be in line because he is so nice. But he is too nice to the point of being unbelievable which undoes all the good which comes from his character and how he deals with events from his family having no money to how he deals with being bullies.
But the generosity and goodness of Thomas is not the movies only storyline and "Paper Angels" reminds me a little of "The Christmas Shoes" because this is one of those stories where one event causes another and has a knock on effect. For example when Kevin's wife suggests they take part in the Angel Tree project it leads to Kevin shopping for the gifts on the list which leads him to meet an old friend who may have a good contract which could save his struggling business, it is that knock on effect sort of storyline. Now in truth you kind of know where it is heading from the minute Lynn decides to put Thomas and Sara's down for the Angel Tree project but there are some twists to this which may surprise you.
What this all boils down to is that "Paper Angels" has a good message and whilst certain aspects of it are too much for me its good nature wins out and makes you feel differently about things.
