Hi everyone, welcome back to the Nightcrawler Experience!
We're now on week three of this year's collaboration with St. John's United Methodist Church for their Summer at the Movies series, continuing to look at Christian films.
This week, we'll be looking at what I'd say is the one that kind of "Started them all," the 2006 inspirational sports- drama 'Facing the Giants.'
This movie centers around Grant Taylor, who is currently the football coach at Shiloh Christian Academy, and is facing a seemingly endless series of obstacles in his life. Their team, the Eagles, has never had a winning season since he's been coach there, and his current season has begun with a three- game losing streak, prompting some of the players' fathers to try and get him fired. Things at home aren't much better. His car's a piece of junk, his house and appliances are in bad shape, and worst of all, his wife Brooke is having no luck in becoming pregnant.
At the end of his rope, Grant begins seeking God's guidance through prayer and studying Scripture. He hits upon a whole new philosophy on coaching, and uses it to motivate his players: He reminds them and himself that they need to always praise God, regardless of whether they win or lose, and put a lot greater effort into everything they do, on the field and off. He tells them that they CAN win through hard work and faith in what God can do through them.
It works wonderfully. Not only does the team begin winning games, but they start making a positive impact on the school as a whole, prompting an amazing revival throughout the school.
As the team continues winning, they enter the playoff season, and must prepare to eventually go up against the reigning champions, the practically unbeatable Richland Giants.
While there have of course been Christian films for decades, I feel like 'Facing the Giants' was the one that really brought about the current wave of mainstream Christian films we've seen since then, ones made with real effort that are good enough to get full theatrical releases and perform well at the box office.It was also the first really successful film to come from the company that would go on to direct films like 'Fireproof' and the previously- reviewed 'Courageous.'
To that end, it was indeed a worthy figurehead- movie to launch this wave. The fact that it ended up making over $10 million at the box office with a $100,000 budget speaks for itself.
The acting is for the most part very good, and it had loads of inspirational moments, with one of my favorites being when the school's revival occurs on the athletic field. We see kids praying in the field and bleachers, to the accompaniment of the beautiful Josh Bates song "Never Give Up on Me." From my first time seeing this film in theaters all the way to now, that scene never fails to leave me on the brink of tears. What's more, as should be the case for a football movie, the game scenes are really exciting and engaging, and the wisecracking assistant coaches provide for some pretty good comic relief.
One character that I really liked was the team's defensive lineman, Brock. He is one of the characters, certainly among the players on the team, who experiences the most drastic change over the course of the movie. He goes from someone who was lazy, apathetic and rude, to eventually becoming a good, decent young man and a real leader among the team. Another of the film's more memorable moments involves him, one of the moments which really brings about this change in him is when Coach Grant puts him through a grueling training exercise known as the "Death Crawl" to inspire him to give his absolute best by trusting in God's guidance. Between the way this scene was shot/ filmed, and the performances of Jason McLeod as Brock and Alex Kendrick (Who also directed the film) as Coach Grant, it is another scene which will keep you on the edge of your seat AND on the edge of tears.
Another thing I like about the film, though it's a rather strange thing to like, is simply the title of it. It can be seen as referring not only to Coach Grant and the team preparing to face the team the Giants on the football field, but also to the more figurative "Giants" that Grant faced in his personal life, such as the problems in his house and the difficulties from him and his wife trying for so long to conceive a baby. I thought calling the movie that was a very good, clever touch.
All in all, 'Facing the Giants' is a very good Christian film, sports film, and movie in general.
As with the other films we've looked at in this series, there are countless Scriptural messages that can be taken from 'Facing the Giants.' The first and most obvious one, which I discussed in the devotional flyer that was passed out at the screening tonight, relates to the importance of trusting and praising God at all times, regardless of circumstances. I show how Proverbs 18:10 and Psalm 46:1-3 both point out that the Lord provides refuge and strength to believers.
I think another important lesson to be taken from 'Facing the Giants' concerns what Godly patience can look like. A rather minor yet important character in the film is an older man named Mr. Bridges, who gives Coach Grant some important advice midway through the film. Mr. Bridges walks down the hallways each day after the students have left, praying for them and for the school. You get the feeling he's probably been doing this for a VERY long time, without much answer to his prayers due to the state the school had been in for so long. Still, he kept right on doing it, because he KNEW that God would eventually bring about the revival to the school that he had been praying for, and so He eventually did! Mr. Bridges never let himself get discouraged simply because things didn't happen when he wanted them to, and he eventually teaches Coach Grant to do the same. This brings to mind Galatians 6:9, which says "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." It's easy to become frustrated when our efforts don't seem to yield much in the way off results right away, I certainly know a lot about that, but if we continue to do good and faithfully serve the Lord, the time WILL come when our efforts and our faith will come to fruition.
One final Scriptural lesson to be taken from 'Facing the Giants' concerns the matter of revival. The school as a whole is rather underperforming at the start of the movie (Indeed, for a supposedly "Christian" school, there wasn't a whole lot of evidence at first that it was a school intended to help kids learn to walk with Jesus), but when the revival in it occurs, starting with the football team and gradually spreading to the rest of the school, it brings about a complete, glorious turnaround for everyone involved. They strive to devote themselves more to serving the Lord, and He in turn helps to bless and provide for them in a multitude of ways. This calls to mind 2 Chronicles 7:14, which says that "If my people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and will heal their land." God can bring about incredible, miraculous healing and restoration to our schools, our families, our churches, our cities, our country, and our world, but for Him to do it, we must turn from things that can distract us or hinder our walk with God, and turn our focus back to Him through prayer, worship, and studying His word. That is when true revival can happen.
So, there we have 'Facing the Giants,' and its lessons on trusting God, being patient for His work to be accomplished, and following Him to bring about change. A true cinematic and theological touchdown!
That's all for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. Come back next week when we finish up this series (And the final film will be a REALLY good one). Until then, may God bless you all!
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