At this point, I really don’t know what to say about Sean McNamara’s work.
For those not aware of McNamara, he is responsible for being an executive producer of numerous shows during the 90s and early 2000s such as That’s So Raven, Even Stevens, and The Secret World of Alex Mack. If you watch one of his recent films and think to yourself that you’re watching an early 2000s Disney Channel movie, there’s a reason for it.
In 2018, McNamara was responsible for the film ‘The Miracle Season‘ but his recent performances have been cliched to the point that it’s bordered on parody. 2022’s ‘The King’s Daughter‘ spent over a decade in developmental hell and the only thing that contributed to it was being on many people’s worst-of-lists for 2022.
This time around you have an Amazon Studio Christian film starring Dennis Quaid which means we are already off to a bad start. ‘On a Wing and a Prayer’ is a film about a family traveling via plane back to the state of Florida. However, as they’re flying, their pilot suffers a heart attack and dies leaving Doug White, a 56-year-old pharmacist, his wife, and their two daughters to land the plane on their own.
To make matters worse, the city is suffering harsh weather making it nearly impossible for the family to land the plane safely in the elements. With the combined efforts of air traffic control, a suspended pilot, and an innocent bystander; the only thing preventing the family from suffering a tragic fate is an act of God.
Right away, you can tell that this was a project that Amazon didn’t have a lot of faith in because the film is forced to work with the bare bones of a budget and it shows. There are only three seasoned actors Dennis Quaid, Heather Graham, and Jesse Metcalfe. Outside of them, the film has to do the best with what it can as far as acting goes.
The film is limited to essentially three sets, the plane the headquarters, and the house. While this made have been marketed as a Christian film, ‘On a Wing and a Prayer’ has elements of being a Christian movie but it isn’t overtly Christian or biblical. If you’re watching this thinking that you’re going to get a strong Christian-based film then you’ll be sorely disappointed.
If Christian audiences are upset about what they get out of this movie then the film has fundamentally failed with its target audience. There really isn’t much to say about this movie as ‘On a Wing and a Prayer’ is an uneventful film that goes through the motions.
Nothing engages the audiences with a gripping story outside of a plane that is about to crash.
I think we’ve safely reached a point where we have to admit that Sean McNamara’s glory days with the Disney channel have long passed him.
When he’s removed from that element, he gives us empty cinema just like this film.
1.5/5
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