The Healer (2016 film)

The Healer is a 2016 Spanish-Canadian-American comedy-drama film written and directed by Paco Arango and starring Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Camilla Luddington, Kaitlyn Bernard, Jorge Garcia and Jonathan Pryce.[1][2]

The Healer
Film poster
Directed byPaco Arango
Produced byPaco Arango
Enrique Posner
Michael Volpe
Written byPaco Arango
StarringOliver Jackson-Cohen
Camilla Luddington
Kaitlyn Bernard
Jorge Garcia
Jonathan Pryce
Music byNathan Wang
CinematographyJavier Aguirresarobe
Edited byTeresa Font
Release date
  • September 16, 2016 (2016-09-16) (Atlantic)
Running time
113 minutes
CountrySpain
Canada
United States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Alec Bailey, a mechanical engineer, has been struggling after the death of his parents and twin brother, Charlie. He finds himself sleeping around, gambling his money away, with a failing business, and drowned in debt, when suddenly his banker tells him that a man is offering to pay all his debt. Suspicious at first, Alec soon realizes this is true; his estranged uncle, Raymond Heacock, offers to pay his £88,000 debt in exchange for Alec moving out of England to Nova Scotia, Canada for a whole year. Although not thrilled by the idea, Russian debt collectors are after him, and after hiding from them in a church where the Priest tells him this opportunity might be God's way of giving him a second chance, he decides to accept his uncle's offer.

Two days later, he moves to his uncle's house in Nova Scotia. His first day in town, Alec meets Cecilia, who says she knows his uncle. She offers to help him out by placing an ad on the local newspaper to bring him some business. His first days in town don't go so well: he meets Father Malloy, who invites him to church, so he tells him he's Buddhist to get out of going; he meets Officer Tom, who gives him a citation and makes it clear he dislikes Alec's uncle; and the ad on the newspaper, which was supposed to state "The Healer, I can fix anything" is printed as "The Healer, I can fix anyone." Suddenly, because of the newspaper ad, people start showing up at his house asking him to heal their ailments. Alec is frustrated at the confusion and at not getting any electrical engineering business.

Needing money, he starts working with Cecilia, who is a veterinarian. Strangely, one by one, each of the people that came to him to be healed, were actually getting cured, even though Alec refused to see them and told them he was an engineer, not a doctor. The strangest incident, however, came when Father Malloy had a heart attack and died in front of Alec, but minutes later came back to life. Officer Tom misunderstands the situation, arresting Alec for the murder of Father Malloy, until Father Malloy clears up the misunderstanding revealing he is in fact alive. Father Malloy then talks to Alec, telling him that he believes he has a God-given gift to heal people.

Alec has had enough of people thinking he can heal them; he goes back to his uncle's house to pack his bags planning to leave. While packing, he finds a key for the basement with a note. In the basement, he finds pictures of his ancestors and an empty frame labeled with his name. His uncle explains that their family has a secret gift to heal that skips a generation. He tells Alec he must accept the gift before midnight or he will lose it forever. Overwhelmed, Alec does not accept the gift, later having to explain his decision to the entire town. The town, however, is understanding and simply thanks him for the miracles he got to perform.

Although he didn't accept the gift, his uncle is a man of his word and will pay his debt if Alec remains in town the whole year, so he discards his plan to leave. A few days later, a family arrives from out of town begging him to heal their daughter, Abigail (Abigail is based on a real person), from cancer. Alec explains he can't help, but agrees to pretend to try to heal her, after Abigail begs him to, for the sake of her parents. Abigail spends the whole weekend with Alec and Cecilia, and they quickly bond. Alec also makes up with Officer Tom, after he reveals that Abigail is his niece. After that weekend, Alec is particularly moved, revealing that Charlie, his twin brother, had died of cancer. He goes back to his uncle and tells him he regrets not accepting the gift. Alec goes to church, angrily asking God for the gift back and to not let Abigail die.

The film ends some time later, when Alec and Cecilia speak to Abigail on the phone, who tells them that the cancer has gone away and she is in remission. Upon hearing the good news Alec and Cecilia kiss. Knowing that Alec has got the gift back, his uncle heads back to England, and they make up before he departs. The last scene is a shot of the basement, showing that in the frame labeled 'Alec Bailey', Raymond Heacock now displays a picture of him. During the credits, we also see multiple shots of the SeriousFun Children's Network: a network of camps for seriously/chronically ill young individuals, as they dedicated the film to philanthropist, race car driver and actor Paul Newman, one of its beneficiaries.[3]

Cast

Reception

The film has a 17% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[4] Brian Costello of Common Sense Media awarded the film three stars out of five.[5]

References
  1. Vlessing, Etan (13 May 2015). "Camilla Luddington, Jonathan Pryce Board Rom-Com 'The Healer'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  2. Douglas, Esme (28 August 2018). "The Healer will donate all its proceeds to children's charities: Watch the exclusive clip". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  3. Movie review: 'The Healer' is unexpectedly engaging news.abs-cbn.com, Accessed 28 December 2020
  4. "The Healer". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  5. Costello, Brian. "The Healer". Common Sense Media. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
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