Facing the Giants (2006)

4 stars out of 5.

Facing the Giants is a small budget movie about a high school football team that needs some help. Ultimately, the coach and the team have a religious awakening and are able to play much more effectively with their increased faith.

The movie is kind of like Remember the Titans, but instead of overcoming race as the team's obstacle to unity, they overcome spiritual apathy. This is not what you normally see coming from Hollywood. In fact, for the first half hour, I was very close to giving up on it for the bad acting, the ridiculous story and more. However, after the first half hour, the movie starts to find a rhythm and pull itself together. It turns out to be a nice, inspiring feel-good story.

I would recommend this movie to all church-going sports fans. If you don't believe in God, you would probably find the movie very strange. Shoot, I do believe in God and I found the movie pretty strange, but got used to it, accepted it and by the end of the movie, embraced it. I will likely add it to my sports-underdog collection of movies with Pistol Pete, Birth of a Legend, Remember the Titans, Rudy, Miracle, Chariots of Fire, and more.