Facing the Giants

A film of faith told through American football. Grant coaches at a small Christian school. The team has not won in six years, parents want him removed, his car will not start and he and his wife cannot have a child. Everything is going wrong at once. Grant makes a decision: he will coach not to win but to demonstrate his faith. From there the season changes. The production itself is the most interesting thing about it. The film was made by a church in Georgia, with members of the congregation and a very low budget; most of the cast are not professionals and the director Alex Kendrick is on the church's staff. It also caused a ratings argument in America: that it was given a parental guidance rating rather than a general one because of its religious content was publicly discussed. The commercial result was far beyond expectation and opened the way for the Kendrick brothers' later films. A production aimed squarely at anyone looking for faith-based films and sports drama. For a viewer outside that frame, the film ties every problem to a single solution and builds its dramatic tension accordingly.