Letters to God
| Letters to God | |
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Official poster
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| Directed by | David Nixon, Patrick Doughtie (co-director) |
| Produced by | David Nixon, Kim Dawson, Tom Swanson, Art D'Alessandro |
| Written by |
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| Starring |
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| Edited by | Patrick Tyler |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Vivendi Entertainment |
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Release date
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Running time
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110 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3 million |
| Box office | $2,908,893 |
Letters to God is a 2010 Christian drama film directed by David Nixon and starring Robyn Lively, Jeffrey Johnson, Tanner Maguire, Michael Bolten and Bailee Madison. The story was written by Patrick Doughtie about his son Tyler, with the screenplay penned by Doughtie, Art D'Alessandro, Sandra Thrift and Cullen Douglas. The story took place in Nashville, Tennessee, but the movie was filmed in the Orlando, Florida area.
Letters to God is based on the true story of Tyler Doherty, who was played in the film by Tanner Maguire. Parts of the story are real, and others were fictionalized, such as the character of a drunken mailman named Brady McDaniels (Jeffrey Johnson), who receives Tyler's "letters to God". The film was released to theaters on April 9, 2010, with mixed reviews. Despite opening at #10 at the box office, it fell just $92,000 short of its $3 million budget with a final gross of $2.9 million.
Darla Doherty (Alexxa Maguire) is an 8 year-old suffering from cancer who has a love for writing and sending letters to Jesus. Her local postman, Walter Finley, takes them to his office after work. His boss sees them and instructs Walter to take care of them.
Later Mr. Finley goes on an extended vacation, causing an alcoholic named Brady McDaniels (Jeffrey Johnson) to replace him temporarily. Brady is a regular at the "Bar and Grill" and close to the bartender, Jack. On his first day of work, Brady is bitten by Mrs. Baker's dog, and is confused by the "Letters to Jesus" that he picks up from the Doherty house.
That same day Darla returns to school after two months of brain tumor surgery, MRIs and radiation. The Doherty family has been through a lot; in addition to Tyler's cancer, they have also lost Patrick Doherty, Darla's father. Darla's first day of school starts off with Alexander, who bullies Darla for being bald and having little eyebrows. Darla's friend Stockard Perryfield (Bailey Madison), pushes Alexander's face in his mashed potatoes, causing them to be sent to the principal's office.
Darla sends more letters to Jesus, with Brady picking them up each day. Brady initially wants to give them to a church, but the pastor says that Brady should keep them. Brady reads some of them, and they inspire him to be a better person. Brady develops a close relationship to the Dohertys. Mrs. Doherty gets close to Brady, and later reads Darla's older sister, Alexxa's, letter that inspires her to be a better mother and immediately goes to get Alexxa's driver's license. Abby makes Darla and her mom think she is arrogant and selfish like a normal teenager. Darla tells Stockard that she wants Alexander to know that she is not mad at him. Alexander figures out Darla's love of soccer and gets an idea of giving a soccer ball with "Get Well" on it. Brady, Alexander and Stockard visit Tyler at the hospital.
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