'Breakthrough' will warm your heart

We loved the movie “Breakthrough,” and give it 5 smiles even though we cried through so much of the film (and laughed at times as well)! We still can’t believe that this happened in real life. The music was amazing.  The main character, John Smith, was played by Marcel Ruiz, who we thought was the best actor in the movie. He is so handsome, and we really believed that he was John Smith, he was so good.  

We really liked all of the actors and actresses that played his friends and supported John and never gave up hope.  They were all so talented and could sing as well. Best of all, we liked how they were so loyal and devoted to John.  He played a high school basketball star who struggled with an issue that really bothered him, but he kept it to himself.  Also, he struggled with an overly involved mom (played by Chrissy Metz), which in the end helped him. The Smith family was very involved in their church even though the mom — Joyce Smith —  didn’t like the Pastor (Topher Grace) and refused to call him by his first name — only Pastor. That situation got resolved during the movie and shows that you can’t judge people based on their hairstyle or beliefs.  Instead, people should be judged based on how loyal and nice they can be once you give them a chance.

John was the star of his high school basketball team and had a problem with another player on the team.  He tried to handle the problem by himself.  He also didn’t want to share his family history as part of a school project because he didn’t know anything more than he was adopted, which he was embarrassed to share with his class.  He had good friends - both girls and boys who really showed how wonderful and supportive they were throughout the movie.  

Although, there was a part in the movie that showed that people can be really mean and hurtful at times and the saying, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” really applied to that situation. He also had a crush on a girl, Abby Sutterer (whose dad was John’s emergency room doctor). He and his two best friends went to play on the frozen lake even though they were warned not to.  All of a sudden, they fell through the ice. We think the whole audience jumped in their seats it was so scary. It felt like we were falling through the ice with him. John’s two friends Josh and Reiger were rescued, but John was under the water for a very long time. The rescuers couldn’t find him, but Tommy Shine (played by Mike Colter) heard someone say, “Go back,” and he did.

The movie continues to show how much love, support, prayers, miracles, good friends and lots of help from the doctors really help people going through hard times. You will have to go to see the movie if you want to know what happens, but be warned — bring lots of tissues! It will be worth all the tears.  But remember, the power of prayer is more important than you think — wink! wink!