Summary..

A failing high-school football coach finds that in order to succeed he must convince his team that there's more to sports than fame and glory in an inspirational tale of courage on the gridiron and the power of God's word. Grant Taylor (Alex_Kendrick) has been coaching the Shiloh Eagles for six years, and he has yet to realize his dream of a winning season. When the team's star player transfers schools, the first three games of the new season show no promise for improvement, troubles at home begin to take their toll, and a plot among the player's fathers to have him fired finds his future in football looking bleak, Coach Taylor is faced with the prospect of either cutting his losses and admitting defeat or turning his life over to God in an attempt to test the true power of faith. With his job on the line and nothing left to lose, Coach Taylor convinces his determined team of underdogs that there's nothing they can't accomplish with a little faith -- including the miracle of a winning season when all hope seems lost.

lex Kendrick - (Grant Taylor)

Shannen Fields - (Brooke Taylor)

Steve Williams - (Larry Childers)

Bailey Cave - (David Childers)

Jason McLeod - (Brock Kelley)

Tracy Goode - (Brady Owens)

Chris Willis - (J.T. Hawkins, Jr.)

James Blackwell - (Matt Prater)

Jim McBride - (Bobby Lee Duke)

Mark Richt

Review..

If you've ever shaken your head at an athlete praising Jesus for letting him catch a game-winning touchdown, meaning implicitly that God favored his team over the other, you may also shake your head at Facing the Giants. Alex Kendrick's Christian film about a woebegone

football team, whose coach is also played by Kendrick, is all about thanking God for helping the team right its season and go for the state championship. Religiously tunnel-visioned though it may be, Kendrick's film does have the good sense to be clear that God should be praised regardless of each game's outcome, and Facing the Giants emphasizes that a person's belief in Jesus Christ should combine with a nevergive-up attitude, not replace it. What's more, he gets away with everyone spending extensive time on the topic of God because it's a Christian high school where Grant Taylor coaches. But Kendrick doesn't get away with his agenda to convert viewers who haven't already been converted. Christian films are considered by the mainstream -- to the extent that the mainstream considers them at all -- to be preaching to the choir, and proud of it. However, Kendrick clearly wants more than that. He consistently fleshes out the characters by showing them joking around, and he's working with actors capable of a range of emotions, including his own finely acted scene breaking into tears over his failures. But Kendrick hasn't learned subtlety yet, and that's what's divisive about Facing the Giants -nonbelievers who just want a nice inspirational story will be crowded out by all the God talk. The good news is that Kendrick did get it right in his next feature, Fireproof, in which Kirk Cameron plays the lead, and there's a better balance between the director's religious viewpoints and the universal struggles faced by all human beings.

PLOT

Facing the Giants is the story of Grant Taylor, a high school football coach with a mediocre record. After several poor seasons, the Shiloh Eagles are considering replacing him as head coach. This is not the only problem Taylor is facing; his car is breaking down, the players' fathers are trying to get him fired, and he discovers that he is the reason that his wife Brooke cannot become pregnant. In order to find a solution to these problems, he prays to God for help. He creates a new coaching philosophy and decides to praise God after each game, no matter what the result. At the same time he guides and urges

each one of his players to give the maximum effort, and motivates them to believe they can win under God's guidance. From that point on, he loses only one game but eventually goes on to win the state championship. His prayers for children are also answered when he and his wife have two children of their own.