Bad things happen to good people in “Soul on Fire,” whose mix of dire calamity and spiritual opportunity manages to be affecting despite the dashes of unabashed schmaltz. The movie is an adaptation of an autobiographical book by the inspirational speaker John O’Leary, whose experiment with gasoline in the garage left him with third-degree burns over most of his body and, at 9 years old, little expectation of survival. It’s the story of how he soldiered on, bolstered by family, hospital staff and an unexpected guardian angel in the form of a local baseball announcer, played with atypical wholesomeness by William H. Macy.
Written by Gregory Poirier and directed by Sean McNamara (who explored Bethany Hamilton’s resilience in “Soul Surfer”), the feature nods toward the power of faith, but its inspirational gloss is more overtly rooted in baseball — namely, the St. Louis kid John’s beloved Cardinals (complete with a fleeting cameo by the team’s longtime shortstop Ozzie Smith).
The action moves back and forth in time, primarily between 1987, when the accident occurred, and 1998, when John as a college student (Joel Courtney) is the life of the party despite his physical scars, but struggling to feel worthy of asking out Beth (Masey McLain), the girl he loves. All the actors, led by Courtney, lend shadings to the ultra-straightforward material, and James McCracken as the younger version of John, playing whole sequences under bandages, makes the boy’s determination and vulnerability evident. Rising to the occasion with unwavering support are John’s siblings, friends, parents (John Corbett and Stephanie Szostak), a no-nonsense burn-ward nurse (DeVon Franklin) and Jack Buck (Macy), offering gentle pep talks during hospital visits and shout-outs during Cardinals games.
In terms of dramatic oomph, the problem isn’t that everyone behaves with decency and compassion, but that everyone unfailingly says what they mean, robbing the movie of moment-to-moment friction, dimension and subtext, even as its lessons in gratitude and self-forgiveness hit the mark.
Soul on Fire
Rated PG. Running time: 1 hour 51 minutes. In theaters.
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