There is much about the life of a writer that appeals to me.  At the same time, I am also cognizant of the fact that such a calling involves what can be construed as lying.  Unless you are working on non-fiction, telling a story is essentially making something up that never happened.  That is a loose definition of a lie, and the word “fable” comes to mind as a shared synonym with “story.”  Though this may sound silly, such things should be taken seriously, particularly if you call yourself a practicing Catholic as I do.  What keeps an author in check, morally speaking, is the notion of putting such creativity to good use.  After all, when spinning a yarn for a novel, it is understood that it is make believe.  What happens, though, when you lose that spark?  That is what is happening in The Magic of Belle Isle (2012), and I am here to tell you the honest truth about it.

For Western author Monte Wildhorn (Morgan Freeman), the truth is that he does not see The Magic of Belle Isle.  In his view, it is a place at which his nephew, Henry (Kenan Thompson), is dumping him for the summer.  It has been six years since Monte’s wife passed away, but the memory continues to haunt him, hence the decision to quit writing.  In fact, he tells Henry to throw away his once prized typewriter, but the nephew refuses.  Instead, with a threat of suicide, Henry leaves Monte with promises to check in periodically.  There are some enticements to life, however.  One is the next-door neighbor, Charlotte O’Neil (Virginia Madsen).  She is a divorced mother of three, and they have to establish ground rules for the dog that has been left in his care since she feels it is her duty to also watch out for the mut.  Her children also take an interest in him, though if only to make up stories about how scary he is, supposedly.  The only frightening thing about Monte is how much he drinks, and he continues this at an alarming rate at a funeral wake to which he is invited even though he had never met the deceased.  In between beers, he is approached by Finnegan “Finn” O’Neil (Emma Fuhrmann), Charlotte’s middle daughter, who had been sent to deliver a salad.  When she learns that Monte is a writer, she wants him to teach her how to use her imagination.  When he hesitates, she insists on giving him her allowance money as payment for his services.  If nothing else, this will buy him a few more bottles of liquor, so he accepts.  She also has an ulterior motive as Charlotte has given Finn an assignment to learn three new words.  Finn figures a writer will have some insight on this matter, and it pays off.  A few days later, this turns into an invitation to dinner for Monte by Charlotte.  During the meal, Flora “Flor” O’Neil (Nicolette Pierini), announces that it will soon be her birthday and she is wondering whether Monte would like to come.  He graciously accepts the invitation, and even allows her to paint his face during the festivities.  The one person with which he has had practically zero interactions with to this point is Willow O’Neil (Madeline Carroll), Charlotte’s oldest.  For most of the summer, Willow behaves in a sulky way, preferring to be with her dad in the city instead of stuck in the middle of nowhere.  She is excited for Flor’s birthday because it means that their dad will be present.  However, not long into the celebration, Charlotte gets the call saying he will not be coming.  While Charlotte lets Flor get the news over the phone, Willow blames her mother for everything.  Making the situation worse is the clown, who freaks out when Finn accidentally punctures his bouncy castle.  In the middle of his tirade, Monte pulls a gun, fires it in the air, and threatens the clown into leaving.  The next day, Monte encounters Charlotte completing a raft on which Finn had been working that summer.  When she finds it ready to put out on the lake, Charlotte makes their friend Carl Loop (Ash Christian) and Willow go with her.  Finn’s target is an island in the middle of the lake, and there she uncovers an old lunchbox that had been left there by Charlotte when she was their age.  In it is a diary that their mom had kept, which interests Willow.  In it, Charlotte details her struggles with her own parents’ divorce, something that gives Willow a new perspective on her mom.  Everything is going fine until Finn learns that Monte had been writing elephant stories for Flor as a birthday present.  Finn is upset that Monte had stopped penning stories for his famous Western character, which makes it seem like everything he had been telling her is a lie.  The matter is dropped for a little while until Charlotte stops by one day to ask Monte to watch the children while she goes into the city for the final divorce proceedings.  During this time, Monte tells Finn about how he ended up in a wheelchair, what had happened with his wife, and how this all ended up in him no longer being able to write.  This clears the air between them.  Yet, the summer is about to end and Monte must leave.  With final goodbyes, he departs, and time passes into the Fall with the girls going to school.  One day, while Charlotte is working in the garden, she gets a message from Monte saying that he has sold the movie rights to his book and has found the perfect place to renew his writing career.  Of course, it is the house in which he has been living over the summer, and we close with the O’Neil girls going to greet him.

That final greeting in The Magic of Belle Isle is fraught with some complicated emotions.  It is clear that there is romantic tension between Charlotte and Monte, and they share a kiss before he departs for the summer.  They are both adults, but the age difference is significant.  Still, I am not sure what to make of that, so I will leave it be.  What I can talk about as a Catholic is my appreciation of some of the advice Monte gives Finn, the budding author.  For starters, one bit is when he comments on how real life rarely measures up to what is in our heads.  From a Faith perspective, I would say that what defeats most people’s Christianity are the expectations they place on God.  We have one way that we want God to act, and when it does not turn out that way, we rebel.  With Finn, she wants Monte to write more of the stories that brought him fame instead of the elephant stuff for Flor.  When her desires are not met, she reacts poorly.  In Faith, this leads to people turning away from God, and it takes Him gently coaxing us back to Him for things to change.  Luckily for Finn, this is what Monte does, and he uses some of his best words to do so.  His final piece of advice is to never stop looking for what’s not there.  It is supposed to be an exercise in expanding one’s imagination, but it struck me as useful guidance in our quest for God.  Again, we so often want something other than what God wishes to provide, and this seems hard to accept.  Instead, we should not only do what they movie suggests, but to let go of it being any other way.  In this way lies true happiness.

And, for the most part, I was happy with The Magic of Belle Isle.  The ones who were not happy with it were the critics, but what do they know?  What I know is that I recommend this one as it will not leave you feeling icky.