Netflix decided to start advertising The Healer on our homepage recently, so I added it to the list as the quick description sounded like something we’d like. Well Netflix, you win again, and congrats to The Healer, you outperformed your 17% Rotten Tomatoes score. We enjoyed the movie despite, and maybe because of, how absurd it was. We loved the location, as the majority of the movie was set in small town Nova Scotia, with beautiful scenery and some stereotypical Canadian earnest townsfolk.
The magical side of the movie made us laugh, and not much else, until the end credits when they dedicated the movie to Paul Newman, and showed a series of photos of children at his summer camps for seriously ill kids and their families. I think the filmmakers wanted to show that you didn’t actually need magical powers to “heal” people, you just need to acknowledge people, and give back when you can. True “healing” comes not from magic or even medicine, but from connection, as a happy soul cannot be tarnished by a body that will not cooperate.
Heavy emotions at the end of a relatively light and good feeling movie, but I think the movie captures that Paul Newman spirit of providing connection, distraction and fun in the face of terminal illness.
Feel Good Rating before the credits: 6.5
Feel Good Rating after the credits: 7.4
Feel Good Movie Ratings 