The Los Angeles Times looks at a new film “Sympathy for Delicious,” the directorial debut for Mark Ruffalo. Written by Christopher Thornton, the story revolves around a paralyzed DJ struggling on the streets of L.A. He turns to faith healing and mysteriously develops the ability to heal the sick, yet he can’t cure himself. Is this inability a result of how quickly he exploits his gift to reach his goal of rock stardom?

There is faith, the showy display of religiosity that is the trick-of-the-trade of faith healers, and then there is faith, a kind of belief in a transcendent reality. In a plain Hollywood church, both were on display last February, as actor-turned-director Mark Ruffalo finished filming on his directorial debut “Sympathy for Delicious,” an unusual story about a jaded, homeless, paraplegic disc jockey, “Delicious” Dean O’Dwyer, who suddenly finds he has the power to heal, although he can’t heal himself. On stage, John Carroll Lynch, playing a kind of cut-rate faith healer (in the mold of televangelist Benny Hinn) is exhorting “that the holy spirit is upon you” to a congregation of would-be believers, including several rows of men and women in wheelchairs. Among the handicapped is writer-star Christopher Thornton,with grimy dark hair, several days of stubble and an air of furious desperation.

It’s unclear if those behind the film are believers themselves. The LA Times said both director and writer, “take a dim view of the possibility of miracles. ‘That’s all a crock,’ Ruffalo says. ‘I’ve never experienced a miraculous healing. For me, the theme of the movie is that you get the healing that you need. Not the healing that you want.’”
What’s certain is that there’s a trend to tap into the faith of ticket-buyers.