I Can Only Imagine 2

by Mike McGranaghan

I Can Only Imagine 2 has got to be one of the least-likely sequels ever made. The 2018 original told a somewhat fictionalized version of how MercyMe singer Bart Millard wrote one of the most famous contemporary Christian songs of all time. There was nothing left to tell after the end. The movie was a hit, though, so now the filmmakers are trying to squeeze a little more money from the faith-based crowd by treading the exact same ground as before, to much lesser effect.

Things aren’t looking so great for MercyMe at the beginning. They haven’t had a hit record in years, and manager Scott Brickell (Trace Adkins) is pressuring Millard (John Michael Finley) to come up with one. He’s got his own problems, though, most notably the refusal of teenage son Sam (Sammy Dell) to take his life-sustaining insulin. While out on tour, the band’s opening act, singer/songwriter Tim Timmons (Milo Ventimiglia), tries to finish a new inspirational song while dealing with Stage 4 cancer. Timmons asks for help completing it, which, of course, Millard can only do by taking stock of his own relationship with God.

The song in question is “Even If,” and it was indeed a hit for MercyMe. If you look at the movie’s end credits, you’ll notice something interesting. That song has five credited writers, not two. There’s also a disclaimer about how I Can Only Imagine 2 is “not a documentary” and that it pulls inspiration from a variety of sources. In other words, it’s a big lie. Yes, Millard and Timmons helped pen the tune, and yes, Millard did struggle with his son’s diabetes. Beyond that, what we see unfold in the film is a fabrication.

Why does that matter? If the movie was better, it wouldn’t. But because co-directors Andrew Erwin and Brent McCorkle are aiming to recreate the original’s uplifting nature, the contrived plot machinations are glaringly apparent. You can sense the story contorting itself to find meaning, to create the sort of spiritual highlights that came more naturally to the first installment. Consequently, every major development is telegraphed in advance, allowing viewers to accurately guess what’s going to happen before it actually does. Imagine driving down a highway that has a sign pointing to your destination every ten feet. That’s this sequel. The predictability leads to a finale far more sappy than stirring.

As further indication of the desire to catch lightning in a bottle twice, the movie includes newly-filmed flashback sequences with Dennis Quaid, playing Millard’s father Arthur, who died at the end of the original. Quaid is a fine actor with a long history of impressive work. The presence of his character here is nevertheless a distraction. Arthur isn’t integral to the story this time around; he’s here because Quaid was part of I Can Only Imagine’s winning formula.

The one unequivocal positive is Milo Ventimiglia. He plays Tim with an earnestness that feels legit. Whether Tim is enduring tour bus pranks or confessing his fear of missing out on family life should he die, the actor gives him a reality that the rest of the picture sorely lacks.

I Can Only Imagine 2 is oddly cynical for a faith-based production. The religious message comes off as commercialized rather than organic. There was nowhere else to go with Bart Millard’s journey - a fact that becomes inescapable as you watch this movie struggle to justify its own existence.

---