The Secret: Dare to Dream - Movie Review

Based on a novel by Rhonda Byrne, THE SECRET: DARE TO DREAM opens with tropical storm Hazel about to make landfall in New Orleans, Louisiana. Miranda (Katie Holmes) is picking up some seafood to take back to the restaurant she runs, called Middendorfs, that’s owned by her boyfriend, Tucker. Miranda works hard, but still barely makes ends meet with a mountain of debt piling up.

During this time, Bray (Josh Lucas) arrives to town and checks into a hotel for a few days. Bray makes his way over to Miranda’s house as he’s on a mission to give her an important envelope. Miranda isn’t home, but Bray meets her son, Greg, while he’s fishing. Bray leaves, saying he’ll catch her later.

After Miranda picks her two daughters up from school, she begins to head home, but gets in a fender bender with Bray. Instead of immediately saying something to Miranda, Bray instead offers to take her bumper back to her house and fix it for her.

When Miranda and Bray arrive to her house, Greg is shocked Bray is back so soon, but pretends like they’ve never met. Bray fixes Miranda’s bumper with ease and eats dinner with the family after imparting some knowledge to them about how to be more positive. As Bray leaves, he puts the envelope he tried to give her earlier in her mailbox hoping she’ll get it.

That evening, the tropical storm hits land and tears a whole in Miranda’s roof. Luckily, Bray comes by the next morning to check on her and the kids. When he drives up, he notices the mailbox is gone and gets nervous. When Bray sees what happened to Miranda’s roof, he tells her he can fix it for cheap. Miranda obliges him again. However, when Miranda’s mother-in-law, Bobby, shows up, she’s uneasy about a stranger working on Miranda’s house and would rather Miranda have Tucker hire someone for her.

When Tucker finds out Miranda has Bray working on the house, the jealously is almost instantaneous. Soon after, Tucker proposes to Miranda at the re-opening of the restaurant after the tropical storm, and Miranda says yes, because she’s pressured by how public it is.

The next day, Bray meets Miranda at her house to show her the finished product, and is invited by her daughter Missy to her birthday party the next day. He accepts.

Missy’s party is going great, but things take a turn when Bobby shows up with some information about Bray that rocks Miranda’s world.

THE SECRET: DARE TO DREAM is predictable with only a small amount of conflict. Everything always seems to work out perfectly. Because the movie was adapted from a novel, there seems to be some plotholes where things could’ve been developed fuller for better understanding. The movie moves quickly, though, with good performances by veteran actors Katie Holmes and Josh Lucas.

THE SECRET: DARE TO DREAM has a mixed worldview that relies heavily on romance between the two main characters. A New Age perspective comes up when a character talks about how you can draw energy and circumstances to yourself. However, the movie also has strong moral elements where characters look out for one another and want to help in any way they can no matter the circumstance. There’s some unnecessary foul language for the movie being rated PG and a brief scene with blood. For these reasons, Movieguide® advises caution for older audiences.

Available to rent or buy on iTunes, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime