Facing the Giants

[C. Matthew McMahon]

Sherwood Baptist Church made this picture that was released by Samuel Goldwyn and Sony Pictures. The acting is not "Academy Award" style, but I must say, the the "glorify God in everything you do" message made us forget that it was not Matthew Fox playing the football coach.

There are a lot of identifiable factors in the picture.

Criticisms: There was no church in the movie. That seemed strange. Also, there was a bit of "revivalism" under the Arminian banner, but not a "huge" amount that would otherwise cast a great shadow over it.

I like the title, "Facing the Giants." It was really about trusting God, and Jesus Christ, no matter how bad things get, or how bad you think things are.

I would recommend renting it.

 

[jfschultz]

My wife ordered it on-line and we were surprised when the DVD arrived a few days before the official release.

Watch it twice! The second time turn on the Kendrick brother's comments (under special features) and the sub-titles.

 

[Reformingstudent]

My son Alex (8) went to see it this past Sunday evening at our former church.
He really liked it. Almost made me wish I had gone. Not.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Wow! Talk about a "B" Movie

I rented this and Sonya and I just finished watching this. We ran over here because I wanted to remember what was said about it.

{Warning spoilers here. Don't read this part if you really want to watch this}
Talk about obvious plot points: the evil coach wearing black with a lollipop in his mouth, the kid named David who's only known for short kicks. Almost 20 minutes before the movie ended I turned to my wife and said: David is going to have to kick a 50 yard field goal to win the game. You had to love the repeated flashes of the American Flag right before that winning kick. Great way to get Southern Evangelicals to stand up and cheer!
{end spoiler}

It was clean. That's good. It was definitely revivalistic. There were many times when the theology resembled Job's friends explaining how calamity strikes the bad people and blessing comes to others. That they praised God even when they lost it was good. That every time a kid did something that he didn't think he could do was a "miracle" it was bad.

It's clean but it's corny. I just wouldn't buy this movie or watch it again as the replay value is so poor. The dialogue is painful to listen to and the acting is terrible with a few touching moments from his wife. The "comedic" moments are even bad.

I think non-Christians might watch and re-watch this movie just to make fun of it.

As for the Gospel, here's the clearest time that the coach actually expressed it: "Well, you should believe Him because He'll change your life. I hope you will because Jesus sure loves you" or something like that.

Finally, in terms of neo-Pentecostalism, there's a guy that walks around touching lockers and praying for revivals who is "...told by God..." to tell the coach that He's with him.

I'd honestly be spending as much time correcting bad theology that resembles the Truth in that dangerous way. I'd rather let my kid watch something that doesn't purport itself to be about how you're supposed to follow God.

I recommed Remember the Titans. Much better acting, plot, dialogue, and no neo-Pentecostalism.

 

[SemperWife]

BEWARE SPOILERS BELOW!

Positives

1. A refreshingly clean movie with a positive message and even Christian focused plot.
2. Touching scenes that demonstrate thanksgiving and praise to God.
3. Demonstrations of respect for authority.
4. In spite of below comments, it is far better than the gore/violence/sex/language filled movies that one usually endures.

Negatives

1. There is discontinuity in the dialoge. Sometimes, Rich and I looked at each and said, "Where did that come from?"
2. The plot was very predictible.
3. The dialogue was hoaky and the movie a bit campy. We probably chuckled much more than was intended. It was difficult not to.
4. How much more can one throw into a film?
   • A small kid with no football experience making a 55yard goal.
   • Not just a kid making a very difficult field goal, but his disabled father standing at the goal posts for the first time to cheer him on with the American flag waving in the background.
   • Infertility issues being suddenly resolved with not one but two pregnancies.
   • A 6-year losing streak coming to end with an unexpected team disqualification and with not just one, but two State Trophies.
   • A bad car being replaced with an expensive truck as an anonymous gift (thats a pretty nice gift for a coach who was on the virge of being fired and had yet to demonstrate he could win- about a $40,000 one).
   • Not just a few football players becoming Christians, but the whole team.
   • Not just the whole football team becoming Christians, but a revival in the whole school.
   • A kid raising test scores from 55% to 100%.
   • And more....
5. It is one thing to demonstrate that God can do the impossible. Is it realistic to portray God doing ALL the impossibles that exist for this one town and this one family ALL at one time? How much sugar do we need????
6. The Gospel is alluded to, but never actually given in the movie yet we see revivals occuring. I wish the Gospel had been more clearly articulated.
7. The movie gives a false sense of earthly prosperity in relationship to faith. It communicates "If you believe in me, then all your problems will end and life will be great?" (no more house problems, no infertility, no car troubles,succes in jobs, better grades, etc..) I think all the miracles distracted from "faith" regardless of outcome.

Overall
On the whole, it is a bit too much sugar for me. I would have liked it better if less time was devoted to transforming every wrong or bad thing into something "miraculous" and more time was devoted to better dialogue and clarity of message. Having said that, I do appreciate the effort made to create a positive film with a Christian message.

 

[LadyFlynt]

Okay, so the plotline has been done several different ways in several other movies. Yes, Hollywood was more creative, funny, etc. This isn't Hollywood. For not being Hollywood, okay, wasn't perfect. But Not Hollywood gave us the storyline with a God centered focus. Not Hollywood also managed to leave us with a film with integrity in it's production. The starring couple were not married to eachother and though they were generally affectionate, not a kiss ensued in the entire movie...between anyone! There was not a single hint of foul language, not even a minced oath. No violence of any kid beating up another kid, or one dad beating up another dad. Very realistic in our reactions to daily life struggles (ie., the wife telling God, trying to convince herself, "I will still believe in You, still have faith in You"...I've said those words myself, under the same circumstances).

This is the one movie I can let my children watch with an entirely clear conscience and know they will gain something from it at the same time.

I really enjoyed how the two assistant coaches played off of eachother, the redemption between father and son, and the concept of authority regardless of how difficult it might be.