FACING THE GIANTS -- A MUST-SEE!

Last night we went to see the new inspirational movie, "Facing the Giants," that was released nation-wide on 450 screens. I had heard of this movie earlier. It was produced by Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, GA, just a few miles down the road from us, and it had been a frequent source of news on the local news station. They had produced an earlier movie, "Flywheel," that had gone straight to DVD, which the local Christian radio stations had promoted extensively.

"Facing the Giants" received national news when the motion picture rating association decided the film did not warrant a "G" rating, despite no offensive language, no sexual situations, no crude humor, etc. They rated it as a "PG" movie, presumably because of the extensive religious content, which caused the national Christian media to promote the unfairness of the rating and which led to a whirlwind of media stories. Having seen the movie, I kind of agree with the PG rating. While there are no family unfriendly items, the movie itself is targeted at the middle school and older crowd. Younger kids are not going to understand the events that are occurring on the screen. In fact, throughout the movie, I found myself constantly explaining to my 10-year-old daughter what was happening on-screen and what it meant.

This week, as the movie was being released nation-wide, the story behind the film, from the low-budget filming by a baptist church in rural Georgia to the controversy over the rating of the film, made its way onto the national media screen. We watched news clips about the movie on CNN, Fox News, and the evening nightly news. Rumors abounded that the movie was only going to be shown for one night (not true), so we made the decision to go last night to see it on its first night. Concerned that the movie might be sold-out, my wife had me go by the movie theater to purchase tickets early. Actually, it was a good thing, the movie was sold-out, at least for the 7:00 pm showing.

"Facing the Giants" is a classic sports movie in the truest sense -- an underdog team of losers face unsurmountable obstacles to succeed in the end. We've seen countless movies like this, mostly from Disney. But what makes this movie different is the overt spiritual message that underlies the movie, and it is this message that is going to make this movie one of the most watched movies in America, at least among Christians.

"Facing the Giants" is the story of Shiloh Christian Academy's (SCA) football team and its coach Grant Taylor. Coach Taylor has overseen six losing seasons at SCA. The parents are starting to lose hope. The players have already lost hope, and the most promising talent has long since transferred to other school districts. The coach is facing constant failure with his team and fears that he is, indeed, a loser. To top it all off, his personal life is not going well. Problems with his house and his car make his days worse when he gets home. And he and his wife are facing infertility issues, which turn out to be his fault. Bottom-line: Coach Taylor is a loser, at football, at home, and as a husband.

But then he experiences a spiritual awakening, a refocusing of his life and his efforts at coaching. Instead of coaching to win games, he begins to coach to bring glory to God. His motto becomes, "Nothing is impossible with God," and from there the movie takes off in a somewhat predictable way. However, the Christian message, the theme of God blessing those who honor Him, and the response of the coach, his family, the players, and the entire school drive this movie and blessed everyone who watched it. We alternated between tears and laughter and, in the end, found our own faith lifted as we watched the SCA Eagles succeed on the field and in life.

Go see this movie! Do not wait for the DVD. If this movie is not playing in your hometown, drive to where it is. Do not miss this! Show it to your youth groups. Show it to your churches. Let them dream the impossible possible through God just as the team did in this movie. As a movie critic, I give this movie two thumbs up, five stars, and a glowing "10" rating. GO SEE IT!