Talking to Heaven

Originally airing on CBS in 2002, this miniseries from director Stephen Gyllenhaal (Waterland, Losing Isaiah, and yes, father of Jake and Maggie) serves up an engrossing blend of spiritual drama and suspenseful whodunit, inspired by the career of well-known real-life medium/author James Van Praagh (played here by Ted Danson), whose books Talking to Heaven and Reaching to Heaven have both been New York Times bestsellers. The story begins with Van Praagh struggling to cope with the disturbing visions and visitations that have haunted him from early childhood: although encouraged by his mother (Diane Ladd) and her good friend (Queen Latifah) to embrace his unusual gift, James instead regards it as a curse. Now, Van Praagh's 30-year-ago psychic encounter with a young boy named Eddie—technically already a murder victim at the time of their meeting—propels the reluctant medium into a police investigation of serial killings. Van Praagh would rather run away from the violent images that come to him as a result of his work, but Detective Karen Condrin (Mary Steenburgen) encourages the haunted man to press on. Whether or not one believes Van Praagh has the power to communicate with the dead is somewhat irrelevant, since the story itself makes for riveting if occasionally unsettling entertainment. Written, directed, and acted with a minimum of sensationalism—controversial subject matter notwithstanding—which effectively mutes the story's more lurid elements, Talking to Heaven is recommended. (E. Hulse)