Facing the Giants
| Facing the Giants | |
|---|---|
 Facing the Giants | |
| Directed by | Alex Kendrick |
| Written by | Alex Kendrick Stephen Kendrick |
| Starring | Alex Kendrick Shannon Fields Tracy Goode |
| Distributed by | Sherwood Pictures |
Release date | 29 September 2006 |
Running time | 111 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $100,000 |
Facing the Giants is an American drama film released in 2006. It was directed by Alex Kendrick who also stars as its lead, Coach Grant Taylor. It is a classic underdog story about American football, with twists and turns through an evangelical Christian worldview.
Mr. Kendrick, who is a church pastor when not creating films, read a recent survey where it was reported that films have become more influential in society than churches. He and his staff have gotten busy creating movies reflecting their values.
Plot Summary
Coach Grant Taylor at Shiloh Christian Academy has never had a winning football season. His car breaks down frequently, his house is falling down around him, and he and his wife are infertile. When he overhears school parents plotting to have him fired, he reaches a crisis point and prays. Reluctant at first, Coach Taylor resolves to get serious about his faith, and challenge his players to do the same. Events and situations work themselves out in a way that the entire school and community is touched, encouraged, and convinced that "with God, all things are possible."
The turning point for Coach Taylor is shortly after an intensive time of prayer. An old man who walks the halls of the school praying for the children shows up unexpectedly in the coach's office with a message of encouragement. The timing of that message overcomes the Coach's reluctance to change focus.
A sub-plot involves a short weak boy, David Childers (Bailey Cave), a kicker hoping to play soccer although his school's only sport is football. His paraplegic father encourages him to play football only as a kicker, and David is at first incredibly reluctant. David's best kick is barely 35 yards. In the end, David is forced to kick 55 yards. His father (Steve Williams) tries to stand, holding onto a gate, and saying a small prayer. David kicks the ball high and a sudden, strong wind pushes the ball, making David score successfully and his team wins.
Another sub-plot involves a rebellious but talented transfer student, Matt Prater (James Blackwell). His father hopes for a football scholarship for his son, but the son constantly disrespects and disregards his father. After the entire school experiences a revival, Matt feels the need to address his father during the school day. Coach Taylor provides the needed ride to Mr. Prater's office, and Matt apologizes to his father for poor behavior. Mr. Prater's business associate (David Nixon) then contributes, "I'd give my right arm to hear my son talk to me like that."
Interaction between assistant coaches Brady Owens (Tracy Goode) and J.T. Hawkins, Jr. (Chris Willis) provide comic relief, especially enjoyable in contrast to stereotypical black/white strife in Dixie. Brooke Taylor's (Shannen Fields) wrestling with supporting her husband while facing continual disappointment in childbearing supplies poignant and comedic moments.
The film uses many Christian pop songs from groups such as Third Day, Casting Crowns, and others. Mark Richt, head football coach at the University of Georgia, makes a cameo.
Cast
- Alex Kendrick as Grant Taylor
- Shannen Fields as Brooke Taylor
- James Blackwell as Matt Prater
- Bailey Cave as David Childers
- Steve Williams as Larry Childers
- Tracy Goode as Brady Owens
- Jim McBride as Bobby Lee Duke
- Tommy McBride as Jonathan Weston
- Jason McLeod as Brock Kelley
- Chris Willis as J.T. Hawkins Jr.
- Ray Wood as Mr. Bridges
Production
Alex Kendrick teamed with his brother Stephen to write Facing the Giants. It is their second movie, the first being Flywheel. The cast is comprised of volunteers from Sherwood Baptist Church, located in Albany, Georgia, as well as others from the surrounding area. The Kendricks hired five film professionals to fill the technical positions on the motion picture. Church members and community volunteers helped to keep production costs down by supplementing the professional crew.
The Kendrick brothers' goals were to produce a family friendly movie that could be affordably shot in Albany, would be fun to watch, impactful to viewers, and glorifying to God. “I believe there is a huge culture of people who love movies, but leave theaters disappointed by films with profanity, immorality, and messages that trample their family’s values and faith,” said Stephen Kendrick. “Facing the Giants is the type of movie we’ve been longing to see in the theater and own on DVD.”[1]
The movie was shot in High Definition video and transferred to film.[2] Using real high school football teams, the football action sequences were shot by the film's Director of Photography, Bob Scott, who is a veteran cinematographer for NFL Films. Another NFL Films technician, Rob Whitehurst, recorded the movie's sound.
Reception
Box Office
According to the film's web site, it opened on 441 screens nationwide in the United States.[3] Only 3 films in the top 10 released that weekend grossed more per theater. Despite such a small number of theaters, the film opened in 12th place. For such a small budget -- $100,000 -- the film has grossed over $9,000,000 as of late November, 2006.[4]
Critics
Many critics felt the film was more evangelism than legitimate filmography. Those who found it acceptable noted the low budget and lack of professional talent, yet were impressed that amateur film makers could do so well in character development and dealing with difficult topics. Some reviewers even hint that Hollywood often doesn't do as well.[5]
Reviewers at Mojo[6] give the film an A-.
Rating controversy
In May of 2006, the producers of Facing the Giants received notice from the MPAA that the film would be receiving a "PG" rating. One of the film's consultants, Mark Joseph, who had also conducted media strategy for films such as The Chronicles of Narnia and The Passion Of The Christ and had unsuccessfully lobbied Walden Media to release Giants, crafted a media strategy to take advantage of the brewing controversy, alerting The Drudge Report which picked up the story on 2006-06-08. Within hours the story was a hot topic in religious and conservative media, outraging many who believed the MPAA was entering uncharted territory by allowing the religious content of a film to influence ratings decisions. In the ensuing days the story garnered media attention in countless media outlets like the New York Times, Good Morning America, Fox News and countless talk radio programs.
According to the film's producers, they were originally told the motion picture received a "Parental Guidance" rating because of its strong religious themes and because it elevated one religion over another. Joan Graves, chairwoman of the rating board, later countered that Facing the Giants contains football violence and also deals with the mature topics of infertility and depression, thus warranting the higher rating and initially denied that religious themes were an issue. Later, when producers of the film produced correspondence from the MPAA which backed up their claims, an MPAA spokesmen was forced to admit that religion was indeed a factor in the film's receiving a PG rating.
The Motion Picture Association of America, which oversees the rating board, received more than 15,000 e-mails within a week because of their decision and the media attention it drew, 10 times more than they had ever received for any previous film.
Conversely, some Christian groups thought a "PG" rating might sway more teenagers into seeing Facing the Giants. "I think that a 'G' for a lot of teenagers is the kiss of death," Focus on the Family media specialist Bob Waliszewski told the Los Angeles Times. "(The PG rating is) a case where unfairness will probably be a blessing in disguise."[7]
The Kendrick brothers expected the "PG" rating because of the movie's mature themes and did not appeal the board's rating.
External links
- Facing the Giants at IMDb
- Crosswalk movie review.
- Rotten Tomatoes movie review.
- Facing the Giants web site.
- Sherwood Pictures web site, the movie's production company.
- Explanation of the PG rating from Scripps Howard News Service.
- Facing the Giants at Rotten Tomatoes
- Facing the Giants at Box Office Mojo
References
- ^ Sherwood Pictures, production notes for Facing the Giants.
- ^ Facing the Giants at IMDb
- ^ Facing the Giants web site.
- ^ Facing the Giants at Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ I.e., Robert Butler, [Inspiration from a solid team], Kansas City Star and Philip Martin, [Giants predictable but still good news], Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
- ^ Facing the Giants at Box Office Mojo
- ^ Puzzanghera, Jim. (2006-06-21). Christians on Football Film: Give Us a G! The Los Angeles Times. Related summary as the L.A. Times article is now archived.