Conversations with God (2006)

Director:

Stephen Deutsch

Writers (WGA):

Eric DelaBarre (written by)
Neale Donald Walsch (books)

Release Date:

25 January 2007 (Singapore)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

Within every one of us, there is a voice that speaks the truth.

Plot:

Chronicles the dramatic true journey of a struggling man turned homeless, who inadvertently becomes a spiritual messenger and bestselling author.

Plot Keywords:

Based On True Story

Cast

Henry Czerny	...	Neale Donald Walsch / God - voice
Vilma Silva	...	Leora Garcia
T. Bruce Page	...	Fitch
Ingrid Boulting	...	Sunny
Zillah Glory	...	Carly
Abdul Salaam El Razzac	...	Chef
Jerry McGill	...	Oscar
Michael A. Goorjian	...	Roy 'The Morning Boy'
Michelle Merring	...	Daisy
Brenna Haukedahl	...	Teenager in restaurant
Scott Cervine	...	The Landlord
Carter Haukedahl	...	Soccer player
Karen Fitzgerald	...	Chiropractor
Aisha Kabia	...	Restaurant Manager
Dani Kelly	...	Audience Member

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements, some language and a brief accident.

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

South Korea:All | Hong Kong:I | Brazil:Livre | USA:PG | Finland:K-3 | Germany:6 | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | USA:PG (certificate #42676)

Filming Locations:

Ashland, Oregon, USA

Company:

CWG Productions LLC

Trivia:

Five cameras were used to capture the Ashlands' 13th consecutive Christmas Parade. Nearly half the town of Ashland - about 10,000 people - lined the main streets.

Quotes:

Neale: [excited] It's like I'm just standing by and just taking dictation - I can't stop!

Movie Connections:

References Donnie Darko (2001)

a damn infomercial

The quality of the writing and production is about that of a reasonably good TV movie, and the acting turns particularly wooden every time someone has a moment where he "gets it." I wasn't familiar with Walsch's books at all, and after this movie I don't think I want to be. The opening lecture scene makes it all too clear whose "love versus fear" tripe was being lampooned in "Donnie Darko," and I seriously thought it was a self-parody that was going to turn out to be a nightmare sequence.

The treatment of physical suffering in the story is particularly dishonest. In the "conversations," one of Neale's first revelations is that all suffering is created by reaction to circumstance and not the circumstance itself. Up to this point, he's been portrayed as simply toughing out all his physical sufferings as though they made no real impact on him, with one moment of exception when he suffers the shame of finally breaking down and eating from the dumpster. It's rather poignant when he seems to recognize the soccer mom and her brat who look at him in disgust as part of the society he was working to build before he lost his job, but the whole thing is cheapened later by the insistence that his suffering really came only from his reaction to them.