|
Rating:  -
This movie should be played in all the schools everywhere!
This movie should be played in all the homes everywhere!
This movie should be played everywhere!
This movie should be played!
Rating:  -
I watched this film in youth group, where my otherwise intuitive youth leader and his wife squeed over it. Then some adult couple at a church-related Christmas party misled themselves into giving a copy of this movie to every single family in attendance, and now my household is stuck with the film (though it thankfully still remains in its shrinkwrap). I cried bitter tears over these sad events, and here's why: First off: this film has good intentions, especially if you're a Christian like me. This movie is trying to show that you should put your faith in God and that it'll make your life better. Not so bad, right? Eh. It turns out a be a problem--a big one. This movie was made by a church, so of course every single issue has to be dealt with as tastefully for Christians as possible. It is all black-and-white, no gray areas. God's grace and will in this movie is a predictable thing, and it comes instantly to all those who do His bidding.
This is not the God I know. This is not the Christian life I am familiar with. The God I believe in is a powerful and trustworthy God, but He is not one that grants my every wish. I follow Him as best I can, though the going is often hard; yet the football team in this movie finds their humility and self-control a lot easier than anyone should EVER find it. I cannot relate to cardboard cutouts who flip from bad-side to good-side in the course of a few structured movie scenes. And when I DO follow His commandments as laid out in the Bible, I certainly don't find myself showered in blessing as these characters do. The largest of my immediate rewards is knowing that I have done the right thing; everything else comes with long, messy, arduous work.
But take the example this movie sets: Grant Taylor coaches the football team at Shiloh Christian school, which has had 6 losing seasons in a row. He may lose his job over it, and he and his wife are low on money as it is. They want a baby, but the doctor tells him he is sterile. Oh, and his car doesn't work. And the boys on his football team are disrespectful to their parents, whiny after their million losses, and bad at kicking field goals. This is sure one rundown community here.
But wait, Grant Taylor decides he's going to trust in God for everything! And he passes on his faith to his team. So far, so good. Not for long. As they begin to obey, blessing literally POUR in on them. Suddenly the students stop disrespecting their parents; the school has a big "revival"; the team starts winning EVERY game; they even win the grand championship against the hardest team in the league! Coach Taylor's job is reassured; the school gets him a shiny new truck as a present (which, by the way, is the epitome of shallow, fair-weather employers); he gets a raise; his wife (get this) even gets pregnant from his sterile sperm! And that skinny kid manages to kick his first darn field goal right when it really matters!! Wowzers, woot, yay, praise the Lord, etcetera, etcetera!!! ...
Yipe. Just YIPE. Nobody in my church has ever experienced Christ in a such a cut-and-dry manner. Yes, there have been miracles aplenty in my family, as well as gifts and creature comforts, and I attribute them to God's grace and lovingkindness. But God isn't some faucet tap that you turn on and off by being good or bad! He is by and large a mystery; His gifts come unexpectedly, often when you think you don't need them but you really do. It's a long, hard slog to the road of fulfillment, and things NEVER turn out the way you thought they would.
This movie has good intentions. But because of its supreme shallowness and total escapism, it tanks tremendously to a 1/10. The bad acting and sports movie clichés seem to be mere pimples next to the leprous falsehoods that this movie inadvertently pushes.
To all you future churches planning to make a movie: don't be afraid to show REAL life, even you have to add some inconvenient truths into the mix. However much the baser populace is wowed by this cotton candy treat, nobody has learned anything substantial from it. Give us the meat, the bones, the REAL stuff! True life applies to everyone, not just Christians, and that's one aspect "Facing the Giants" didn't manage to grasp.
Rating:  -
Certain Christian churches and organizations in North America preach something often called the prosperity gospel. In a nutshell, this refers to the idea that God wants us to be rich, physically, emotionally and materially.
It's a pretty controversial message, but also a very attractive one. After all, what could be better than marrying Christianity to the American dream?
Facing the Giants presents the gospel of prosperity in a high school football movie. Before I get into the film's plot and its many heavy-handed messages, I should say that this DVD represents a pretty impressive feat. You see, this movie was produced by a southern-U.S. church. The director and leading man is a church pastor. Much of the cast is made up by volunteers from the church's congregation. They shot the film with just one camera on a shoe-string budget of $100,000, with a crew of volunteers and only a few film professionals. To date, they've grossed about $10 million.
Like I said, pretty darn impressive. That information also provides the all-important context for this review, context which has presented me with a dilemma; do I apply a handicap and praise the film for what it does accomplish, or stack it up against the big budgets and seasoned talent of Hollywood's best? With the handicap, I could say some good things about Facing the Giants. Without it, I feel compelled to attack the film for weak acting, awkward scripting and an outlandish story that takes its own messages too far.
Here's the plot. If you don't want any spoilers, skip down a couple of paragraphs. Shiloh Christian Academy's football team hasn't made the playoffs in six years. Head coach Grant Taylor (Alex Kendrick) is a down-trodden guy; his job is in jeopardy, he's poor, his car barely runs, and he and his wife, Brooke (Shannen Fields), have been trying for years to have a child with no success, because, we learn, poor Grant is impotent. Heavy stuff, right?
Not to worry. By putting his faith in God, Grant accomplishes amazing things. He leads his entire football team to accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior, which has the added benefit of turning them into a powerhouse team in less than a month. With the team winning games, Grant gets a big raise -- there goes the poverty concern. Obviously, his job is no longer at risk, because the parents who were scheming to have Grant fired do a full 180. One of them even anonymously buys him a brand-new Ford F-150, all decked out with leather interior. So no more worries about the rust bucket he's been driving. But wait, there's more. With God on his side, Grant leads his team to win the state championship against a far superior team. And if that's not enough prosperity, it turns out that maybe Grant isn't so infertile after all, because his loving wife becomes pregnant. By the end of the film, child number two is on the way.
An important message that's stated several times in the film is 'we praise the Lord when we win, and we praise Him when we lose.' That's a great message for Christians, but unfortunately the story doesn't practice what's being preached. I don't have a problem with the team winning the state championship. That's expected. But when Brooke manages to become pregnant, I lose all respect for this film. I wanted to see coach Taylor and his wife praise God even in the midst of the heartbreak of having their hopes for a child crushed. The juxtaposition of that pain with the glorious success of Grant's football team and his coaching career would really have driven home the aforementioned message.
Instead, Facing the Giants tells viewers that God will make everything perfect if you have faith, respect your parents, and not surf porn on the Internet. Sorry, did that last part come out of nowhere? It does in the film, too. In the middle of Grant's TSN-turning-point speech to his team, when he explains his new faith philosophy for football and everyday life, he says they should honour God on the football field, in the classroom and when they're at home surfing the Internet. Nice. And subtle, too.
As a Christian, I would be hesitant to recommend this film to a non-believer, because I think it really sends the wrong message about God, faith and prosperity. I don't agree with the promises made in Facing the Giants, and I don't want impressionable people getting the wrong idea. But hey, it's a free country, and obviously I have no say in what people want to watch, and how they'll react.
Now I've really digressed. I'll conclude with this: Facing the Giants is an impressive feat of filmmaking for such an amateur project, and regardless of my complaints about the quality of acting or the script, the truth is that this film is at least wholesome entertainment for all ages. For some people, that alone will make this film a must-watch.
Rating: -
What an incredible movie. As it turns out I had some Giants that I was facing when I watched this, and I still haven't recovered from the impact this movie made.
Rating: -
This family oriented movie isn't really about football; it's a heartfelt story of real people facing the very real problems in life that all of us face. If you're looking for a heartfelt movie to uplift you and remind you what's most important in life, then this movie is a definite MUST SEE!! This movie has changed my life.
Television Show
Collectibles
Movie Searches
|
|
|
Search for posters,
art prints, photos, collectables, merchandise, toys, t-shirts
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Join the Nielsen//NetRatings Research Panel and you could win a new car, a dream vacation, a dream home makeover or $50,000 Cash!
TV Guide
Program listings, celebrity profiles, industry
gossip, movie reviews, puzzle.
More
Entertainment
& TV Magazines
This site is
Hosted
by Bluehost
Read
my Bluehost Review
Original Superhero & other designs for t-shirts, bumper
stickers, prints, mugs, and other cool merchandise. |
|
