The Kendrick Brothers have one of the biggest production companies in the Christian film community. They first entered the scene with Flywheel (which I haven’t seen yet), and then they hit the gridiron with Facing the Giants.
This dramatic faith-based movie is most likely famous for one particular scene. If you look up motivational videos on YouTube, I almost guarantee that you will stumble across coach (Alex Kendrick) yelling at his blindfolded player Brock (Jason McLeod) to keep going. I won’t spoil the moment for you, although I recommend you check it out sometime. (https://youtu.be/-sUKoKQlEC4)
The reason why I enjoy this movie and would consider it a top 15 pick is that it is believable. This football program has had its fair share of losing seasons and good players defecting to other high schools. The situation is so bad that the parents wish to fire their coach who can’t buy a win. Only after finding a common goal to believe in does the coaching staff and players finally end up on the same page and find themselves on the path to glory.
Like any sports film, the drama is there to build up the importance of the championship game. It is truly a miracle that the team made the big game, but telling you about it here would only ruin it for those who haven’t seen it. The desire instilled in the group that started the season losing games is quite admirable. To witness everyone come together and put their differences and opinions aside is inspirational.
One of the best aspects of the story is the number of guys on this team. Most high school teams roll out 50 or more players to stay fresh, yet this team only had 32 players. That meant they had to play almost every play of every game while playing both sides of the ball.
For obvious reasons, I adore a handful of other football movies. However, I will give Alex and his brother Stephan a round of applause for their efforts in Facing the Giants. Some parts may seem corny or unbelievable, but football is real, and so are the emotions involved with the gridiron. Even if you have no interest in watching the entire film, I still recommend you check out the death crawl clip up above. 7/10
Ten Stars or Less 