The movie this week is actually one that was originally released in October, but my theater only just now received it. It is a sports and religion movie based on the true story of what happened in Woodlawn High School back in 1973.
The movie starts with a not so brief history of the Birmingham, Alabama bombings and the racial "problems" there. The violence leads into the first time, through government mandate, that black students attend Woodlawn High School. We briefly meet Hank (played by Sean Astin) as he prepares to head to this school on the first of many historic days.
We then find us following Tony Nathan (played by Caleb Castelle) running along the road to school, while being followed by his father in a truck. He walks through the school and soon we find him sitting in the gym with a few other fellow black students and a lot of white ones who are on the football team. Coach Tandy Gerelds (played by Nic Bishop) comes in and says to everyone that he knows how angry everyone is about the situation, including him, but to use that to win.
This was a very interesting movie to watch. As I am not a huge sports fan, it is not my first choice to watch a movie about sports. It also makes me a little hesitant to watch a sports movie that is also filled with a strong religion base to it because those are really a hit and miss type of genre. Most times you find misses, but to my viewing pleasure for the most part, this was a hit.
The story plot with the very real struggle of segregation and how the characters used skill and faith to overcome all of this is inspiring. It had a good balance between the sports aspect and religious base until the end. This is where I felt it was preachy and should have left some of it out because it took away from the real feel of the movie. I think the message would have been stronger if the end didn't make the movie feel like a 2 hour convergent advertisement.
I was impressed with the acting in the movie for the most part as well. Caleb Castille and Nic Bishop really gave their characters depth and understanding for the struggles they were going through. I did have a problem with Sean Astin at some points though. I just really had a tough time believing him to be a preacher. I think he came more alive when his character interacted in other ways, like cheering on the football team.
Overall I think the movie is worth seeing, especially if you love true stories and watching the way we humans overcome problems like racism. I would rate this movie 7.6/10 only because of the over preaching at the end and my disappointment in Sean Astin's acting.
The movie starts with a not so brief history of the Birmingham, Alabama bombings and the racial "problems" there. The violence leads into the first time, through government mandate, that black students attend Woodlawn High School. We briefly meet Hank (played by Sean Astin) as he prepares to head to this school on the first of many historic days.
We then find us following Tony Nathan (played by Caleb Castelle) running along the road to school, while being followed by his father in a truck. He walks through the school and soon we find him sitting in the gym with a few other fellow black students and a lot of white ones who are on the football team. Coach Tandy Gerelds (played by Nic Bishop) comes in and says to everyone that he knows how angry everyone is about the situation, including him, but to use that to win.
This was a very interesting movie to watch. As I am not a huge sports fan, it is not my first choice to watch a movie about sports. It also makes me a little hesitant to watch a sports movie that is also filled with a strong religion base to it because those are really a hit and miss type of genre. Most times you find misses, but to my viewing pleasure for the most part, this was a hit.
The story plot with the very real struggle of segregation and how the characters used skill and faith to overcome all of this is inspiring. It had a good balance between the sports aspect and religious base until the end. This is where I felt it was preachy and should have left some of it out because it took away from the real feel of the movie. I think the message would have been stronger if the end didn't make the movie feel like a 2 hour convergent advertisement.
I was impressed with the acting in the movie for the most part as well. Caleb Castille and Nic Bishop really gave their characters depth and understanding for the struggles they were going through. I did have a problem with Sean Astin at some points though. I just really had a tough time believing him to be a preacher. I think he came more alive when his character interacted in other ways, like cheering on the football team.
Overall I think the movie is worth seeing, especially if you love true stories and watching the way we humans overcome problems like racism. I would rate this movie 7.6/10 only because of the over preaching at the end and my disappointment in Sean Astin's acting.
No comments:
Post a Comment