The Phenomenon of Facing the Giants
by Dr. Marc T. Newman
October 16, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Hollywood salivary glands must be working overtime as industry suits watch the grosses for a micro-budgeted little film produced by Sherwood Baptist Church in the Atlanta suburb of Albany. In a savvy marketing move, distributors Samuel Goldwyn and Sony Pictures made sure that Facing the Giants did not have to face many at the box office. They launched this "little movie that could" right near the start of the high school football season that it depicts, and far enough ahead of any of the big "must see" films, such as Flags of Our Fathers or The Prestige and two weeks after Gridiron Gang. As a result, Facing the Giants, produced for $100,000 with volunteer actors, but a professional camera crew, has stunned the bean-counters with box office sales far north of $4 million -- so far. With the exception of the rapidly-expanding film The Queen, Facing the Giants had the smallest week-over-week drop of any film in the top twenty, and managed something else few films accomplish -- the second week's weekday box office was actually larger than the first. (See earlier article)Don't get me wrong. If your production standard for film fare is Lord of the Rings or even The Guardian, Facing the Giants is not a great theatrical release. The acting is mostly wooden, the location sets lackluster, and the story's multiple conclusions are too miraculous for my tastes. But the film is striking a chord with audiences because it is told with conviction when it counts, depicts Christians turning toward and trusting God for the results (something rare in film), and even though the tidy ending might be much, it reminds people that with God nothing is impossible.
Conviction
I have a confession to make. After seeing the trailer for Facing the Giants I had no intention of seeing the film. My good friend, film critic Holly McClure, "suggested" that I see it, and as she sits on MovieMinistry's board of advisors I thought it might be a good idea to agree. The movie was not playing within 60 miles of me so I contacted the producers and they graciously rushed a screener to my office. With low expectations, I sat down to watch the movie. After all, what could you expect from a $100,000-budgeted film?
As you might guess, I see a lot of movies. Nearly all of them are in fairly wide release and many of them are bad, and not a few are downright horrible. While I cannot say that the acting in Facing the Giants was good by most Hollywood standards, it was certainly better than some, and in places it actually shone. Perhaps it is unfair to make comparisons with films budgeted at over $30M, but I would rather watch Alex Kendrick, as Coach Grant Taylor, both berating his team and later giving them an attitude adjustment in Facing the Giants than any of the Rock's coach speeches in Gridiron Gang. I sensed an honesty in Kendrick's portrayal, and my guess is that his character convicted some Christian high school football coaches and players across the country. If that sense of guilt leads to repentance and that were the only impact this film ever had, it would have been worth every penny and all the effort needed to make this movie.
But it's not just athletes that can benefit from this film. For every Christian who thinks that they have given it their all for Christ, I can recommend Facing the Giants just for the "Death Crawl" sequence alone. Not only was it well done -- both acting and cinematography -- but honestly moving.
Christians in the Movies
I think that Sherwood Pictures is demonstrating that Christians will turn out to see regular films that don't involve some apocalyptic scenario or demonic visitation. In Facing the Giants, Christians read the Bible, talk about spiritual issues among themselves, and pray. My initial reaction was that this seemed a little forced and odd. But when I thought about it for a bit I recognized that the reason it may have seemed strange to me is that one so rarely sees the life of believers on the screen. Within recent memory, the closest I have come to seeing a decently-budgeted Hollywood film portray Christians with any accuracy is in Because of Winn-Dixie, where little Opal prays a heart-felt prayer and old, nearly blind Gloria demonstrates a particularly visual means of remembering her sins so that she won't repeat them.
In Facing the Giants, life is going badly for Coach Taylor, so he repents and seeks to follow God in his life and his coaching philosophy. He tells his team that ten years from now few people will remember what happens on the field, even if they managed to win the state championship, but that God sees and we are to live our lives with integrity before Him. As Taylor tells his team, "If we win, we praise Him; if we lose, we praise Him." Not a bad lesson to hear as you head out to do battle on a gridiron, or anywhere else.
Nothing Is Impossible for God
The part of the film that did not sit well with me was that all of the problems introduced in the first two acts are miraculously solved in the third. I mean all of them. For those who have followed God closely and begged to be delivered from bad circumstances (the Apostle Paul comes to mind) the simplistic notion that turning your life over to God will make all of your troubles vanish was, well, troubling. As evangelist Ray Comfort is quick to point out, turning your life over to Christ is not a passport to happiness and the easy life. Often the very opposite is the case, because God is not preparing us for this place, but for a better country. The first and foremost result of saving faith is the knowledge that we have been redeemed from the wrath of God due for our sins.
Having said that, does God never alter the circumstances of His children here on earth? Most churches I have visited have stories of God's miraculous intervention in the lives of His people. A good friend of mine had a son with an inoperable brain tumor. The boy had been given little time to live. The regular MRIs consistently revealed the tumor's presence. Then one day, inexplicably (to the doctors, at least), his tumor completely vanished. Such stories are not uncommon. God can use our circumstances for His glory whether He smooths our paths or walks with us when they are rocky and we stumble. So while it might have been better had Kendrick determined to create a more balanced script (the final scene is particularly over the top), in a world where God is rarely recognized in film in any way, perhaps Kendrick can be forgiven for overcompensating.
What's Next
I have not interviewed anyone associated with the making of Facing the Giants, but I see great promise in these humble beginnings. Kendrick and Co. can plow what I hope will be a great windfall from this film back into making the next one even better. Bringing out professional script writers to help with rewrites, bringing in acting coaches to increase professionalism (or ponying up the money for professional actors), and holding on to that camera crew would help. No matter how you look at it, Sherwood Pictures has taken on the giants of the film industry and produced a financial winner. In doing so they have demonstrated that the church can effectively make inroads into the arts. And even though these are just baby steps, I am looking for bigger strides in the future. If this film is not playing in your area, get your church together and walk down to the manager's desk at your local theater. Trust me, if you have 750 people who want to see a film, they will find a way to get it. You may not be blown out of your seat by the movie, but you will be impressed with its heart -- and that is something worthy of support.
Marc T. Newman, PhD (marc@movieministry.com) is the president of MovieMinistry.com -- an organization that provides sermon and teaching illustrations from popular film, and helps the Church use movies to reach out to others and connect with people.
