Review: Think it, and it will come in 'The Secret: Dare to Dream'

In "The Secret: Dare to Dream," there's nothing you could want for that isn't attainable, given the right mindset, powers of persuasive thought and happy coincidences of the universe. 

Want a pizza? Just visualize the cheese, pepperoni and oozing stuffed crust and it will suddenly materialize at your door. Of course, it helps if someone already ordered it and had it delivered to your house, but which came first, the phone call or the idea? 

Based on the hugely popular 2006 self-help book "The Secret" — or made "in association with 'The Secret,'" as the opening credits note, as if "The Secret's" powers can be reduced to a mere "based on" credit — "The Secret: Dare to Dream" is a gauze-covered, soft-peddled, vaguely spiritual tale of cosmic happenstance. It adheres to the book's philosophies on the laws of attraction — think it, and it will happen — while telling the story of two strangers whose connection is anything but a fluke.  

Katie Holmes is Miranda, a widowed mother of three living under a mountain of debt just outside New Orleans. Her boyfriend, local store owner Tucker (Jerry O'Connell) is about to pop the question. But one day Bray (Josh Lucas) arrives in town from Tennessee and starts offering to fix things for her around the house while awakening her to the power of positive thinking. And suddenly, Miranda's situation — as well as her perception — begins to shift. 

"The Secret: Dare to Dream" is innocent and innocuous enough to make Nicholas Sparks look like David Lynch. It's not so much driven by the guiding principles of "The Secret" as it is a fundamental niceness; do good, be kind and you'll be rewarded. It's short on answers, but there are certainly worse messages to hear right now. 

agraham@detroitnews.com

@grahamorama 

'The Secret: Dare to Dream'

GRADE: C+

Rated PG: for language and an injury image

Running time: 111 minutes