Based on the 2006 bestselling self-help book ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne, ‘The Secret: Dare to Dream’ is a romantic drama emphasizing the power of the law of attraction to shape a person’s life. Revolving around a family whose members believe they are unlucky; the film aims to shift perception to show that one gets what they expect and that bad thing can lead to good outcomes.
Set in and around New Orleans, the film sheds light on the life of Miranda Wells (Katie Holmes), a widowed mother of three children desperately trying to make ends meet. The film starts with Miranda smelling raw fish and calling it a beauty, revealing that she works in a seafood restaurant. Though she is half-heartedly dating her wealthy restaurant owner boss Tucker (Jerry O’Connell), she still pines for her husband who died two years earlier in a plane crash. Her life as a single parent has been hard and so she longs for a father figure for her children. Buried under massive stress and debt, there’s barely any time left for her own needs. She even ignores her appointment of root canal because she couldn’t afford to pay the doctor’s fee.
Enters Bray Johnson (Josh Lucas), an engineering professor, who travels from Nashville to deliver an envelope with a red wax seal to Miranda. The seal shows that the envelope contains something very important. But because she was not home, he couldn’t meet her to deliver the envelope. The next we see his car getting into a fender bender with Miranda. While talking to her, he comes to know that she is the same woman whom he came to meet. He offers to repair her bumper and soon he is everywhere around the house. He even patches up the roof of her house when the hurricane sends a tree crashing through the kitchen.
Bray mingles with the entire family by giving them titbits of wisdom. One can see the energy and enthusiasm of the entire family rising after Bray’s involvement with them. He explains the law of attraction using a magnet and paper clip. So, when Miranda’s son Greg (Aidan Pierce Brennan) insists for a pizza, a delivery man arrives at the exact time. When Missy (Sarah Hoffmeister) was sad that no one was coming on her 16th birthday, Bray convinces her that it’s the closed ones that matter the most. He also fulfils little Bessie’s (Chloe Lee) wish of a pony. Even Miranda confides in him saying that her whole life is a series of gut feeling that always takes a bad turn to which Bray comforts her.
For the audience, the film reveals a happy plot but what about the envelope? Because rather than handing over the envelope to Miranda, Bray hides it. His true identity and purpose emerge in front of a crowd during an occasion. He has a secret that will change everyone’s lives forever.
Katie Holmes and Josh Lucas give earnest performances but the chemistry between them is zero percent. Despite having a poor script and very little to these characters for them to work with, Katie manages to charm her way. She hasn’t been a good actor always but she depicts Miranda admirably well. She tries her best not to overshadow the film with her repetitive issues. Josh, on the other hand, with his spooky character, gives an insight into a darker version of the film. His intense firm gaze with those blue eyes is enough to make the film look like a psycho-thriller. While the first half of the film has captivating moments, with both Tucker and Bray being supportive and sensitive men ready to fight anything for Marinda, the second half lacks it all.
Director Andy Tennant, famous for films like ‘Ever After’ and ‘Hitch’, gives minimal input to the film. He, along with co-writers Bekah Brunstetter and Rick Parks, shows a poor adaptation of the book as the film is the exact inverse of what a passionate romance should aspire to be, let alone one preaching the power of positivity. For the record, the book ‘The Secret’ has sold an estimated 30 million copies worldwide but there is no chance of its adaptation reaching even a fraction of that. 
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