Wide Awake

Wide Awake

Reviewed by Michael Nerbun

Joshua A. Beal is a fifth grade student at a Catholic boys school who is on a mission to find and talk to God. Joshua wants to talk to God to make sure his grandpa who has just died is okay. Joshua’s grandpa believe in two things, "Always keep both hands on the football and always hold on to your faith—faith will get you through."

Joshua’s search for God made us laugh, cry, think, worry and to wonder about God and his ways. We felt close to Josh because he has a lot of the same questions as we do. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that God is there and that he will take care of us because things aren’t going so great. Even the priest tells Josh, "I’ll give it to you straight. Sometimes I do feel like giving up. Doubts are a part of everyone’s journey."

Joshua is "wigging" out his parents and sister as his search for God takes on some interesting activities. Even his best friend tells him to give up, that you can’t find God; "where are you going to look?" When he watched the movie we thought a lot of the characters were like people we know in our own lives. A lot of times we can find God in the people and situations that we meet in our everyday life if we just pay attention.

This is a great movie to watch with the whole family. It may not be action packed for your teenage brother but it is a lot of fun and makes you happy to be a believer, a Catholic and a family.

Talk It Over:

Before you watch: Have you ever thought about giving up on God? Have you ever had an experience when you though that God was listening to you or taking special care of you?

After the movie: What was your favorite part of the movie? Why? What did you think about the ending? Why did they call the movie "Wide Awake"?

PS The movie had 3 bad words in it, but we chose to ignore them.

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