HERE ON EARTH

HERE ON EARTH has a moving setup and some moral elements. A reckless rich student helps destroy a small-town diner, then must repair it alongside the boy whose girlfriend he eventually loves. The film also includes a Christian church, wrongdoing rebuked by authorities, and a young man who ultimately does the right thing.

But the story’s treatment of romance undercuts those positives. Kelley and Samantha are shown together in bed after an earlier scene suggests Kelley intends not to go too far. The movie presents their relationship mainly through the excitement of young love, while neglecting the need for sexual abstinence. Its characters rely on emotions and idealistic attitudes toward love rather than biblical standards.

The film is heartfelt but ordinary, and its PG-13 content makes home viewing preferable. Watch it only with older teens if you are prepared to discuss its message about love, character, and sexual choices.

Kelley, a wealthy prep-school student, joins a reckless car race through a small Massachusetts town. The race ends in a fiery explosion that destroys a family diner.

A judge sentences Kelley and Jasper, the boy he raced against, to rebuild the diner together. Kelley stays with Jasper’s family, where he grows close to Samantha, Jasper’s longtime girlfriend. Their attraction creates a painful love triangle complicated by jealousy, social status, and the past.

Two stars means HERE ON EARTH is watchable but not especially distinctive. The film is more heart-wrenching than many teenage romances, and the young leads do well for the most part. Leelee Sobieski and Chris Klein effectively portray the excitement of a girl’s first love and the “butterflies” stage of romance.

The weaknesses are substantial. The subject matter is ordinary, Sobieski is not thoroughly convincing as a small-town girl, and the depth of the central love goes largely unexplored until the bittersweet ending. The film depicts young people facing major issues, but its emotional approach leaves important moral questions insufficiently examined.

HERE ON EARTH presents a mostly romantic worldview in which people are controlled by their emotions and idealistic attitudes toward love. It values looking beyond external wealth to internal character, and it includes some biblical and moral elements: wrongdoing is rebuked by authorities, a boy deals with his feelings for a dying person and eventually does the right thing, and a girl attends a Christian church with Scripture visible in the background.

Yet the film treats people as essentially good and noble and lets emotion guide intimate relationships. Kelley and Samantha’s implied premarital sex sends a confusing message, especially after Kelley initially appears determined not to go too far. The movie neglects sexual abstinence and does not measure romance by the moral and theological standards of the Bible.

The film’s emphasis on inner character can point toward a biblical truth, even though its account of love is not biblical. Scripture says, “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

HERE ON EARTH offers a heartfelt romance, some meaningful moral elements, and a worthwhile conversation about character. But its treatment of sex and emotion makes it a poor choice for casual family viewing. Save it for home, and only watch with older teens if you are ready to discuss what it gets wrong. WAIT FOR HOME.