Letters to God is a 2010 Christian drama film. Letters to God is based on the true story of Tyler Doherty, who was played in the film by Tanner Maguire. Parts of the story are real, and others were fictionalized, such as the character of a drunken mailman named Brady McDaniels (Jeffrey Johnson), who receives Tyler's "letters to God".

Tyler Doherty (Tanner Maguire) is an 8-year-old cancer patient with a strong faith in Jesus and a love for writing and sending letters to God. His local postman, Walter Finley (Christopher Schmidt), picked up Tyler's first letter to God. Unsure what to do with it at first, Finley hangs onto it along with Tyler's subsequent God letters. Later, as Finley is about to leave for an extended vacation, he is very worried about who will take over his route, knowing his regulars really rely on him. He hands over Tyler's letters to his boss, Lester (Dennis Neal), making it clear he expects them to be handled with care.

Lester chooses to give Finley's route to Brady McDaniels (Jeffrey Johnson). He is a veteran, an alcoholic, and a regular at a bar where he is close to the bartender, Jack (Tom Nowicki), his former commanding officer. We eventually learn that Brady was arrested for DUI while his young son was in the back seat, resulting in losing custody of his child. Brady becomes terribly depressed and drinks away his days, and nearly loses his postal job because of it. Lester feels strongly that he should be patient with Brady because there is something in him worth saving.

On Brady's first day on the route, he is chased by Mrs. Baker's dog, and trips over a sprinkler while running away from the dog, gets tangled in the hose and drenched. On another day, Tyler arrives home just as Brady finished dropping off the Doherty's mail, and Tyler vomits on Brady's shoes. Brady manages to survive the challenges on the route and starts getting to know Tyler. He becomes inspired by the youngster's unwavering faith and his courage as he faces cancer.

Tyler tries to deal with a bully at school by not reacting to his insults and explaining what it's like to get radiation treatments. The bully, Alex, insults Tyler again so, in defense of her friend, Samantha jumps across the lunch table and pushes Alex's face into a pile of mashed potatoes. All the kids end up at the principal's office. As time goes by, Alex is affected as he sees that Tyler's faith helps him maintain a positive attitude, and it even helps Tyler forgive Alex's bad behavior. The two end up good friends and he starts hanging out with Samantha and Tyler.

Tyler's illness has reached a point where the decision is made to stop his treatments because they are no longer effective. Continuing would only sap his remaining strength so he will be allowed to live out his days in relative comfort. At an event celebrating Tyler, Brady shares how his life has been impacted by Tyler and that he was led find faith in God. Tyler later succumbs to his illness and passes away at home. Tyler's best friend, Samantha, dedicates a mailbox for letters to God, saying about Tyler that "his life was a letter to God."

The film closes with a montage showing others of faith who battled and sometimes beat cancer. 1

References