Facing the Giants (2006) PG
Brent Taylor is the struggling coach, of an equally-struggling High School football team in gridiron-crazy Georgia. Football is not just a sport down there, but life and religion combined. In his 5 years at the helm, the Shiloh Eagles have never registered a winning season, and have very little self-belief.
It’s a mindset that has infected the team, starting with the coach. On a relatively meager salary, a car of questionable reliability, and a mystery odor in his marital home, Coach Taylor has begun letting his failings obscure his true self and potential.
Add to that his recently diagnosed inability to father a child for his devoted Brooke after years of unsuccessful attempts, Coach Taylor's despair and self-doubt reaches new heights. The final straw is a meeting between some disgruntled parents, the school principal, and one of the coach's assistants which Taylor happens to overhear, as they conspire to remove him.
Prompted into action, and at rock-bottom, Taylor draws on his belief system, spending an agonizing night in prayer and despair. Emboldened with new found confidence from within - and above - the coach sets out to help his team realize what (or whom) they are really playing for. And in the process, the team, and school community rally to achieve the unthinkable and - in Coach Taylor's view - miraculous.
Another addition to the teeming 'Inspiring Sports Achievement' genre, Facing the Giants is 100 minutes of clean family entertainment. With positive messages throughout, parents can feel confident their children will learn valuable lessons about faith, hope, and 'preparing the field for rain.'
Facing the Giants should strike a chord with anyone who has ever confronted the insurmountable, and experienced the relief brought on by honest soul searching, and the peace borought on by the inevitable answers.
It is available on DVD through most retailers or at the local video rental store.
Brett Stringer
