90 Minutes in Heaven

A Texas minister (Hayden Christensen) is mangled in an auto accident and declared dead for more than an hour. During that time he visits heaven—and finds the experience so overwhelming he has no interest in returning to earth and recovering from his injuries, to the pained consternation of his distraught wife (Kate Bosworth). Christian pastor Don Piper's bestselling memoir is brought to the screen by writer-director Michael Polish, placing the emphasis more on Piper's long convalescence (and his wife's devotion) and less on his visit to the Pearly Gates (a climactic scene that plays more smoothly than in last year's similar Heaven is for Real). There are a couple of extraneous plot threads—like a cameo by Dwight Yoakam as a cornball ambulance-chasing lawyer—but sincere performances carry the day. J.L.