Facing the Giants

Facing the Giants
Directed by Alex Kendrick
Produced by Stephen Kendrick
Alex Kendrick
David Nixon
Written by Alex Kendrick
Stephen Kendrick
Starring Alex Kendrick
Shannen Fields
Tracy Goode
James Blackwell
Bailey Cave
Jim McBride
Jason McLeod
Music by Mark Willard
Production
company
Distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films Destination Films
Release dates
  • September 29, 2006 (2006-09-29)
Running time
 111 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $100,000[1]
Box office $10,243,159[1]

Facing the Giants is a 2006 American Christian drama film directed by and starring Alex Kendrick. The supporting cast was composed of volunteers from Sherwood Baptist Church, and it is the second film that Sherwood Pictures has done. Shot in Albany, Georgia, the film relates an underdog story about American football from a Christian worldview.

The film was released to DVD in early 2007 and made its television debut on September 21, 2008, on Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Plot

Grant Taylor (Alex Kendrick) is the head coach for the Shiloh Eagles football team at Shiloh Christian Academy, and has yet to post a winning record in his six-year tenure. After his seventh season begins, he learns that his Running Back, tired of losing, has transferred to a rival school as he moved in with his dad in that school district. Grant is frustrated as this is the third time he has spent developing key players but having them transfer schools in their senior year. Consequently the team is discouraged and write the season off since he was the one who scored a third of their points last year. Not surprisingly, the discouraged Eagles get shutout 23-0 in their first game.

Larry Childers, who is confined to a wheelchair, and his son David have recently moved from Athens, GA where David is entering his junior year at Shiloh. David is a soccer player but Shiloh does not have a soccer program so Larry encourages him to try out for the football team as a kicker despite David's reservations. David is nervous due to his small stature and lack of experience in football, but his dad tells him not to be afraid of failure. After try-outs, the coaching staff see promise in him and he makes the team.

In the next game against Dewey County (a game which the Eagles are favored to win), the team totally falls apart and loses 21-7 frustrating the coach to the point where he holds a closed door team meeting and berates the team for giving the game away due to their poor offense as well as certain players for missing practice as they had detention for slacking off in class. Later that night when David discusses the game with his dad, he agreed with the coach and was glad to not have played that game and get berated, but his dad again brings up the point that he still has fear in him due to excuses.

With another losing streak, the players' fathers start making noises about replacing Grant with defensive coordinator Brady Owens (Tracy Goode) and hold a late night meeting at the school (with Grant secretly listening). This is not the only problem Grant is facing. Outside of football, his car is breaking down and he cannot afford to get another one, some things in his home are not working properly, and he discovers that he is the reason that his wife Brooke (Shannen Fields) cannot become pregnant. With all these issues (giants) that Grant is facing, he begins asking God for help and God begins to change his perspective on life and his approach to the team.

During the next team meeting, Grant offers anyone $10 if they could guess the team who won the sports championship 10 years ago or 5 years ago. When nobody could come up with the correct answer, he tells the players that trophies and other material awards as well as personal recognitions, only last for a short while. He then challenges the players when it comes to their future in life and their true purpose for playing football as well as creating a new coaching philosophy to focus on praising God, no matter what the result.

During practice in preparation for their next game against Westview, Grant calls out one of his influential players, Brock, to do the death crawl (crawling across the football field with the knees and elbows off the ground and with another lighter player on top) after hearing him write off their next game as a loss. Grant tells Brock to crawl to the 50 yard line but makes him do it blindfolded for the purpose of maximizing his potential. As Brock is struggling, Grant continually encourages him not to quit along the way and Brock ends up crawling all the way to the end zone. Grant sees Brock as an emerging leader and tells him that the team will sink or swim with his attitude. Inspired by this, the Eagles come together as a team and defeat their opponent.

Under God's guidance and provision, things begin to take a turn for the better as the players take their studies in school seriously after earlier boasting about their low grades. There is a revival at the school as students start openly praying and sharing their burdens with each other and Grant personally rebukes a player on his team to respect his father. As a result, the Eagles begin a winning streak resulting in a post season appearance and a pay raise for Grant, the player who was earlier rebuked by Grant reconciles with his dad and they secretly buy Grant a brand new pickup.

During the post season game against Princeton Heights, the Eagles put up a valiant effort but come up short. Learning from Grant's previous lessons, they praise God despite the loss. As the team begins packing up their gear and calling it a season, coach Grant receives a phone call. Later, he calls an impromptu meeting with the team and informs them that Princeton Heights has been disqualified for cheating when they played two ineligible 19 year olds during the game. As a result, the Eagles have advanced to the quarterfinals against Tucker whom they defeat soundly and then advance to the state championship game against the three-time defending champion Richland Giants.

Even though the Eagles have only a third as many players as the Giants, the Eagles hold their own and ultimately win the game on a 51-yard field goal from David, the backup kicker who had never kicked more than a 39-yarder before.

At home, Grant's prayers for children are also answered as Brooke conceives after four years and the ending shows Grant playing with his new child with Brooke watching and pregnant again.

Cast

Production

The movie was shot on high definition digital video tape (using the Panasonic Varicam) 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. Filming started in April 27, 2004.

Soundtrack

Facing the Giants: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Film score
Released October 3, 2006
Genre Christian

Official listing

  1. Come Together - Third Day
  2. Voice of Truth - Casting Crowns
  3. Facing the Giants Theme (Score) - Mark Willard, Alex Kendrick
  4. Finding You - Bebo Norman
  5. The Deathcrawl (Score) - Mark Willard
  6. Completely - Ana Laura
  7. A Gift from God (Score) - Mark Willard
  8. Come on Back to Me - Third Day
  9. Never Give Up on Me - Josh Bates
  10. The Fight (Score) - Mark Willard
  11. With You - Mark Willard, Mark Harris
  12. Attempting the Impossible (Score) - Mark Willard, Alex Kendrick

Reception

Reception

The film received mostly negative reviews from mainstream critics.[3] It holds an average ranking 13% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 24 reviews. Site consensus reads: "The tropes of both football and evangelical movies are gracelessly on parade in this banal, insipid drama."[4] The film also received criticism from some Christians for portraying a prosperity gospel version of Christianity, where one simply gets whatever they want the minute they follow Jesus.

Box office

In its first weekend, the film opened on 441 screens nationwide in the United States.[5] Despite such a small number of theaters, the film opened in twelfth place with $1,343,537. Only three films in the top ten released that weekend grossed more per theater. For such a small budget of $100,000, the film ultimately was shown in over 1,000 theaters and grossed a total of $10,178,331.[5] The film opened in South Korea on April 16, 2010, eventually grossing $64,828. The worldwide total (as of June 20, 2010) for the movie stands at $10,243,159. DVD sales have also been strong, with 2.3 million units sold in 57 countries.

Rating controversy

In May 2006, the producers of Facing the Giants received notice from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) that the film would be receiving a "Parental Guidance Suggested" rating, or PG rating.[6] The Drudge Report picked up the story on June 8, 2006, which sparked a controversy alleging that the film was being given a "PG" rating solely because of its religious theme. The New York Times, Good Morning America, Fox News, and many talk radio programs covered this story.[7]

According to the film's producers, they were told the motion picture received a PG rating because of its strong religious themes and because it elevated one religion over another.[6] However, MPAA later explained that Facing the Giants contains football violence and also deals with the mature topics of infertility and depression.

The Kendrick brothers expected the PG rating because of the movie's mature themes and did not appeal the board's rating.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 "Facing the Giants (2006) - Box Office Mojo". September 29, 2006. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Internet Movie Database". Facing the Giants. Retrieved September 7, 2007.
  3. ↑ "Facing the Giants". Metacritic.
  4. ↑ "Facing the Giants". rottentomatoes.com. 29 September 2006.
  5. 1 2 "Facing the Giants". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
  6. 1 2 "Film Rating Upsets Christian Groups". ABC News. Retrieved September 7, 2007.
  7. 1 2 "Facing the Giants MPAA Ratings Controversy". Carmel Entertainment Group. Retrieved September 7, 2007.

External links

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