Perhaps there are Christians who will appreciate The Shack's Oprahfied universal heaven, wherein no bad deed goes punished. But it made us pine for the Book of Job God to spitefully hurl leviathans and behemoths.

Making a sincere film about religious faith is a tricky thing to pull off. And this folksy dose of misguided manipulation demonstrates many of the common pitfalls.

Touchy-feely New Age therapy runs headlong into evangelical Christianity in The Shack.

Essentially a parable at its core, like the book, the film challenges traditional Christian viewpoints, notably in the visual interpretation of God.