The Secret: Dare To Dream (2020)

By: Mike Ward on Sunday, August 02

PG Running Time: 109 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • If you remember Rhonda Byrne’s 2006 best-selling book and still follow its guidance, The Secret: Dare to Dream is likely right in your wheelhouse.

  • Doesn’t have a malevolent bone in its body.

  • Pour your beverage of choice and just be ignorant to the world outside your windows for awhile...

NO

  • What an odd little movie this is.

  • Stilted dialogue and confounding logic makes The Secret: Dare to Dream a frustrating, occasionally laughable movie, if you look beyond the surface on any of this.

  • What reality does The Secret: Dare to Dream even live in?


OUR REVIEW

The Secret: Dare to Dream is a movie full of musings on spirituality and how positive thought can alter one’s life. Setting aside how tone deaf this is with the world we find ourselves in right now, the film draws inspiration from a 2006 self-help book. That book, “The Secret,” authored by Rhonda Byrne, has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, and serves as the source material for this new film from co-writer/director Andy Tennant (Hitch, Sweet Home Alabama).

Katie Holmes stars as Miranda, a widowed mother of three, who works for a fish market in a small Alabama town. She is kind of half-in/half-out romantically with her boss Tucker (Jerry O’Connell), and struggles to make ends meet for her and her kids. Proud and determined to persevere independently, and on her own terms, she is nonetheless spiraling into debt, maxing out everything available to her. She relies on mother-in-law Bobby (Celia Weston) to help with child care and remain a presence in her grandchildren’s lives.

Enter Bray (Josh Lucas), a brooding, soft-spoken, kindly Southern gentleman who arrives in town, with, well, a secret. Intending to deliver an envelope to Miranda, he pauses when he happens upon her. Observing her struggles, he is overcome with a desire to help her and her family, giving him ample opportunity to share his positive messages, whether people ask for them or not.

When a storm rages through town and damages Miranda’s roof, Bray conveniently has all the tools, knowledge, and means to repair Miranda’s damaged roof. When she genuinely asks why Bray is helping them, with Bobby passing him the stink-eye every chance she gets, he smiles, says something vague, esoteric, but sweet, then goes about his day.

In defense of all involved with The Secret: Dare to Dream; no one could ever have anticipated the chaos 2020 would bring. But, I mean…honestly. This movie distills everything down into one hokey, awfully simplistic theory that seems laughable right now.

The inherent issue here is with the basic premise of “The Secret;” this idea that if you want something positive for yourself, you can simply envision it and it will come to pass. Of course, oftentimes, wishing something positive for yourself comes at the detriment of others doing the same, which creates a rather obvious loophole in this whole “Secret” philosophy.

Take Tucker. He is clearly in love with Miranda. He has hesitated to make things more serious out of respect for all she’s dealt with and has undoubtedly envisioned himself as having a significant part in Miranda and her family’s life. Undoubtedly, I am sure he has written it down as Byrne suggests in her book. I bet he has even used a “vision board” - another Byrne recommendation.

And yet Miranda becomes curious about Bray, which understandably makes Tucker nervous about his relationship. As he should be. So, did he envision the wrong thing? If the idea of “The Secret” is absolute, what does it mean if it doesn’t work for someone? Did they not “secret” well-enough?

Let's analyze how well "The Secret" works in today's world.

Did 30 million people collecting unemployment benefits through July 2020, simply not “secret” strong enough to avoid losing their jobs during a pandemic? Did people who took precautions and wish themselves to not get sick with COVID-19, only to then fall terribly ill, and have 154,000 people lose their lives as of this writing - not "secret" positively enough? Do victims of racism, and inequality not wish those things to go away as effectively as they should?

I mean, the idea of “The Secret” sounds nice and all, but it sure seems ignorantly simplistic and impractical to most people’s reality.

And yet - as a blissful diversion from the world, The Secret: Dare to Dream will absolutely be some people’s jam. Holmes and Lucas have nice chemistry. The kids are plucky and the movie is never boring. With a glass of wine, this might even be a hoot with friends.

Look...if “The Secret” works for you and daring to dream helps make you feel better and successful - more power to you. I am happy for you. For a lot of people though, who have followed the formula and not seen a whole lot of success, I am not sure they exist in Rhonda Byrne's world. If anything, the kindness of this movie only amplifies how implausible and irresponsible all this "Secret" stuff truly seems to be.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Katie Holmes, Josh Lucas, Jerry O’Connell, Celia Weston, Sarah Hoffmeister, Aidan Pierce Brennan, Chloe Lee, Sydney Tennant, Katrina Begin.

Director: Andy Tennant
Written by: Bekah Brunstetter, Rick Parks, Andy Tennant
Based on the book “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne
Release Date: July 31, 2020
Roadside Attractions/Gravitas Ventures