When The Game Stands Tall triumphs!

Do you know what you are doing this weekend?

I do!

You are going to one of the best movies I have seen in awhile, When The Game Stands Tall.



Sony Pictures/Affirm Films brings to the screen an incredibly inspiring story of a High School football coach who chose to teach a generation of young men about character on and off the field. Based on true events, this movie tells the remarkable story of legendary football coach Bob Ladouceur, who took the De La Salle High School Spartans from obscurity to a 151-game winning streak that shattered all records for any American sport."

Now this movie isn't about the climb to winning all those games - instead it focuses on what became of the 2004 team that dropped the ball and lost for the first time in twelve years. Life isn't about being on the top. Character is built when you fall and pick yourself back up. That is the philosophy of this great inspirational movie.

"Don't let a game define who you are. Let the way you live your lives do that."

Along with some of the other great movies that have come from the sports arena, like Remember the Titans, Rudy, The Blind Side and of course for Christian movie-goers, Facing the Giants - greatness is not found on a scoreboard. Coach Lad made sure to focus his boys on community, personal bests and the connection and preservation of family. This movie goes for an extra touchdown than some of the other inspirational sports movies have in that Coach Lad reminds everyone it is never about winning.

Of course the first question you might be asking if you aren't a sports fan is how much football is in the movie. My answer ... a lot. But please don't let that deter you. The message of the film penetrates so much deeper than the hits, runs, passes and blocks of high school football. As well, I thought the filming of the game scenes were done well. They're high impact and realistic - from my perspective.

This is the kind of movie that leaves you thinking and pondering long after the credits roll. It is incredibly well-rounded and superbly written. The actors are all fantastic and believable. The scene shots are vivid and eye-catching. I have nothing but praise.

As far as the element of faith goes, this movie is not hard hitting and bible thumping. The story takes place at a Catholic private school in California. The producers did not hide this fact at all - there are scenes of prayer, religious based classes and God is spoken of openly as a part of their lives.  Very natural. Coach Lad's faith permeates his life - all the while showing that he is not perfect. In fact, he teaches the boys that you can never be perfect - like have the perfect game or perfect record, but each and every thing you do should be marked by giving:

"A perfect effort from snap to whistle."

And isn't that so true of our our faith journeys. You will never live without mistake or failure but don't quit and don't give up. From snap to whistle.

Families will love this movie. The only aspects for families with small children is there is football violence up close and loud, there is a scene of smoking, a scene of partying and a scene of sexual innuendos among teen boys. These are minimal but definitely present. Check out the Focus on the Family's Plugged In review for more information.

And if I could borrow a quote from another fellow's blog posting titled Why you should see When The Game Stands Tall with your Teens

"It’s a good movie with a message, not a good message with a movie."

Check it out!  Either visiting your local movie theaters or picking up the DVD in the coming months - DON'T MISS OUT!

For those looking for even a little more information here are a few links of interesting things I discovered in my own research I couldn't resist sharing.

• USA Today article article by the actor Jim Caviezel about Coaches and this role. Excellent!
• Video interview of Jim Caviezel on the Official 700 Club. 
• For the very brave - a 40 minute interview of Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in the Passion of the Christ, in a very powerful, inspirational interview from Rock Church 
• Facebook - be sure to like the movie.
• Quotes to tweet and Pin 

God's Not Dead. He is Surely Alive!

I know its only September 8th and if you live anywhere more southern than me (I'm in Canada), you probably haven't even pulled out the "s" word yet. Or even your little mitties. But today I'm watching the "s" word fall.


So ... a snowy Monday seems like the perfect time to talk about movies.



Lately, Christian movie-goers have felt a little like kids at Christmas. Hollywood has heard our cry for family-friendly movies with a strong moral message. We've been blessed with so many movie makers and companies stepping up to the plate. So, let's continue to support those folks with our time and our money.

Unfortunately I have not been able to make it out to the theaters for many of the newest releases as I don't live that close to the kinds of theaters that bring in these movies. So my form of support this summer has consisted of DVD purchases. That also means I might be reviewing a movie you watched in the theaters months ago. Sorry.

Our latest DVD was God's Not Dead. My whole family squished across two couches this summer to watch it. If you're not familiar with it check out the trailer and the synopsis. (**NOTE: there is a spoiler alert below, if you haven't seen the movie read with caution.)

For starters, I was excited about the premise - the whole idea that my teens raised in a faith-based home might one day have to defend what they believe. Amazingly I actually became a Christian during my university years - but certainly not from anything I learned in the classroom. In fact I found often what I heard in class sounded obscurely opposite (or in contrast to) what I read about God. So needless to say I was excited my teens wanted to watch this movie.

The trailer sets the story up nicely, but I must admit that the movie falls a bit flat beyond that point. There was too much going on in the periphery of the main plot that kept any of the characters from being fully flushed out. Again, something I wish we'd outgrow in Christian movies today is the stereotyped character lines. For example in God's not Dead we have the main character Josh on his very complex and overwhelming task of proving that God is in fact, not dead, yet we do not see much of his home life. We know very little about what he believes or lives out aside from his cross pendant and his egotistical and absolutely unlikable girlfriend. Now in reality we might have some people's whose faith is barely skin deep, but she takes selfish to a whole new level. I'd like to know how the two of them even came to be together in the first place. Unrealistic.

Then there is a side story of a Pastor and his missionary friend. These two men were the comic relief of the story I guess. However, again very flat, two-dimensional characters who, other than cameo appearances in Josh's life and the professor's, added nothing to the plot.

I could go on with the other periphery characters in the story but suffice it to say they were very distracting. The most important part for me was the interactions between the professor and the student. That is what we wanted to see. Unfortunately for me this was not done deep enough. There wasn't anything concrete my kids came away from Josh's argument, other than they can't really prove God is alive but they can point a lot of fingers at the "big, bad, mean teacher".

I knew professors in University who definitely didn't believe in God but none of them were threatening and cruel. I don't know why the movie makers made the Atheist professor the predictable bad guy who ties the good guy onto the train tracks. In fact all the atheist characters in the movie were portrayed as mean, hurtful, and completely unfeeling "bad" people.

Is that what the unbelievers in your life look like?

Lastly I need to touch on the ending. As five of us watched the movie we all unanimously hated the ending. It was paper thin with stereotypical and cheesy overtones. Of course, ****SPOILER ALERT**** Radisson dies in a tragic accident just as he is starting to realize he might believe in God after all. He is ushered into heaven with the sinner's prayer on his dying lips.

God's Not Dead was disappointing for us.

However, I stand wholeheartedly behind evangelistic efforts and most ardently support Christian film making. I have sat through many growing pains of movies made that have poor acting, poor filming or whatever in order to one day produce high caliber and entertainment worthy films with a positive message.  I believe we are on the right road, and I do think this movie is a step in the right direction.

My faith is multi-dimensional. My faith is complex. And my attempts to share that faith with someone would look different every time. Lets see a movie that doesn't kill off the bad guys, tainted and impossible to like because of their unbelief.

Let's try and love them to Jesus instead.

I did like the music though!!! Did you know that Shane Harper, the actor who plays the College student in the movie writes and records his own songs. Check out this song!


BTW, checking out another upcoming movie - this time in the theaters! Stay tuned to hear about When The Game Stands Tall.