Facing the Giants is the second full-feature motion picture written, produced and directed by Sherwood Productions (a ministry at Sherwood Baptist Church in Georgia).
All I can say is…What a movie.
It’s an action-packed, family-friendly drama about a high school football coach who draws up a new game plan for his team and himself. And it must be good because it’s a football movie and Jennifer Loved it… (it also kept the attention of our 5 and 6 year old children)
Here’s the story line:
In his six years of coaching, Grant Taylor has never had a winning season. Even the hope of a new season is squelched when the best player on his Shiloh Eagles decides to transfer schools. After losing their first three games of the season, the coach discovers a group of fathers are plotting to have him fired. This combined with pressure at home, Coach Taylor has lost hope and feels like he is Facing the Giants.
It’s through these challenges that Coach Taylor finds a purpose bigger than just victories. Daring to trust God to do the impossible, Coach Taylor and the Eagles discover how faith plays out on the field and off.
This movie boldly states the truth that With God, All Things Are Possible.
Wagar Family Recommendation = YES
This movie, written, produced and directed by Sherwood Productions (a ministry at Sherwood Baptist Church in Georgia) was their first attempt at movie making. With a budget of just $20,000, they have developed a film that, although a bit rough at the edges at times (the entire cast are volunteers from the church), will bless everyone who takes the time to watch it.
So what's the plot?
Jay Austin wants to sell you a used car, but watch out! Many victims have fallen prey to his smiling face and hasty promises. Austin does everything his way until his dishonesty and manipulation are repeatedly exposed. Like many men, he becomes disgusted by the masks he wears and lies he tells. While having a classic convertible repaired, Austin begins a humorous and inspiring journey to win back the hearts of his wife, his son, and his community. In every man's life, there can be a turning point. When Jay Austin makes his turn, he never looks back.
As stated in the beginning of this review, the film is a real blessing to watch and although it is family friendly, the young children (5 and under) lost interest in it after about 30 minutes.
Wagar Family Recommendation = YES
In this extremely funning 2007 follow-up to Bruce Almighty, Steve Carell (The Office) plays a vain junior congressman named Evan Baxter. Evan’s motto throughout the movie is that he wishes to "change the world" which is heard by none other than God (Morgan Freeman). When God appears with the perplexing request to build an ark, Evan is sure he is losing it. But soon mysterious deliveries of wood and tools are being dropped on his doorstep, animals of every shape and size are flocking to him two by two, and his self-absorbed life goes from overnight success to almighty mess!
Unlike its predecessor, Bruce Almighty (which I do not recommend for those under the age of 18) this movie is very family friendly which our kids thoroughly enjoy watching again and again.
Wagar Family Recommendation = YES
Our children received this as a Christmas present and since that time have watched this 4 or 5 times (which in the Wagar house, is a lot).
There are very few movies that keep all of our kids engaged throughout the one and half our duration, but this one does exactly that. From C, age 3 to B, age 5 and even D, age 6, it was all eyes on the movie (which isn’t necessarily something we like, but that’s for another blog entry in a different section of this site) …Back to the movie….
For those who have not seen the movie (very few I suspect), it’s a story about a rat who loves to cook and how he helps a kid (who later finds out is the son of a famous chef but cannot cook to save himself). The kid works at a once flourishing restaurant which is now struggling and together he and the rat attempt to revive the status of the restaurant… Are they able to? You’ll need to find this out for yourself.
This movie kept all of our family’s attention with its fast paced family friendly story.
Wagar Family Recommendation = YES
This 2004 remake of the original is absolutely hilarious. The kids were laughing through most of the movie but the two parts that they enjoyed the most were:
In the beginning of the movie when Mark can’t find his frog so he is looking all over for it. Then just as everyone sits at the table and they pray over their breakfast, Mark spots the frog on top of the light fixture which hangs over the table. As Mark attempts to catch his frog (Beans) with a net, Beans jumps onto the table and food goes everywhere. Needless to say D and B were laughing so hard they almost had tears in their eyes.
The second most enjoyed part, which is actually a bit gross, is when the Dad is home alone with all the kids and is struggling to keep control of the house. During this part he asks one of his daughters to clean out the dishwasher and as she does she finds that somehow a jockstrap cup was placed in the dishwasher. Not wanting to touch it, she quickly throws it across the room and it lands in the pot of spaghetti sauce, from which her Dad grabs it and takes it to the sink to wash it off. Meanwhile one of the boys comes down the stairs and sees the cup covered in sauce and asks if that is Blood. Apparently he doesn’t like the sight of blood and he throws up on the floor. Now that’s pretty funny on it’s own, but then after he leaves and prior to anyone cleaning it up, another brother comes out slips on the puke and falls into it, and yes you guessed it, then he throws up….. By this point both B and D and even C were laughing uncontrollably, but that’s not all…
To bring this movie into reality, just after the last scene mentioned (Throwing up scene), W gagged on his food and started to throw up in his highchair, then B, in an attempt to get away from the puke stood up and knocked over his bowl of food. After settling down a bit B decided to set back down and when he did he knocked over his bowl of popcorn….CRAZY just like the movie…..We all had a GREAT laugh …
Overall it is a GREAT movie, but please do note that there are a couple of inappropriate kissing scenes and those where a boyfriend and girlfriend are lying in bed together (these were the times that we turned off the monitor to the computer to ensure the younger viewing audience was not exposed to anything that they didn’t need to be exposed to.
Wagar Family Recommendation = YES