The Miracle of the Cards

We all love stories of impossible odds overcome, and “Miracle of the Cards” is such a story based on the true life happenings of Craig Shergold. Craig is a cute little British boy, eight years of age, suffering from a brain tumor. In a ploy to help Craig muster up more will to fight the tumor, Craig’s mum Marion (played by Catherine Oxenberg of “The Omega Code”) comes up with an idea to break the record set in “Guinness Book of World Records” for most cards received (just over 1 million).

“The Miracle of the Cards” features Kirk Cameron (in a very minor role) as a skeptical reporter who is sent to cover the story. As he interviews mum Marion, dad Ernie (Peter Wingfield, “Noah’s Ark”, “Highlander”) and others, past history comes together nicely taking us from the first signs of distress to the miraculous conclusion.

Fans of PAX TV-style programming such as “Touched By An Angel”, “it’s a Miracle”, and other Christian-worldview shows will be attracted as well to “The Miracle of the Cards”. In fact, it did aire nationwide on PAX Nov. 10, 2001 (ten days before the official video release from Cloud Ten). Church, prayer, faith in God, and other Christian elements are upheld in this film. However, be aware that this is not an overtly evangelistic film with mention of Jesus Christ as the Saviour… similar to “Touched By An Angel” et. al. it’s more of a retelling of a true-life story that can help to bring the skeptic to belief in God and his healing power.

Can God heal? Without a doubt. Does God heal? When He chooses to, certainly. Sometimes He uses his people to heal, and at other time he heals apart from human interaction. The bible teaches that there are those within the body of Christ that have a special spiritual gift—the gift of healing. (See I Cor 12:2-11, 27-30). This gift includes healing of not only the physical body, but the mind, emotions, and relationships as well. One of God’s many names is “The Great Physician”, and the bible and other verifiable accounts set forth precedent that miraculous healings do take place, even today.

This film may make an enjoyable evening for the appropriate audience as mentioned above. However, I was disappointed by the unconvincing come-and-go British accent from the lead, Oxenberg (who did live in the U.K., but is actually a native New Yorker). She played her part well aside from the accent nit, but the further distraction that she appeared to be about 6 months pregnant (though there is never any mention of it) is also bothersome. As an American who has lived overseas, I’m sensitive to the undercurrent often seen in productions from America where the U.S. is painted in a superior light to other nations. Though perhaps not the intention of the filmmakers, when Craig and his parents go to Virginia to see Dr. Kassel (Richard Thomas, host of PAX TV’s “it’s a Miracle”) for a special treatment that could heal him, I got the strong impression that hope suddenly increased tenfold, not just because Dr. Kassel would be partly to thank, but that America had the answer whereas Great Britain did not.

If Craig’s story piques your interest, this retelling may be worth your while. However, Cloud Ten Picture’s October release “Waterproof” starring Burt Reynolds is a superior film.