Courageous (2011)

By Alex Kendrick

This is a phenomenal movie made by Sherwood Pictures, and directed by Alex Kendrick. Kendrick and his brother, Stephen, are the producers and Alex is also a pastor at Sherwood Baptist church in Atlanta, Georgia. This is the fourth movie that his company has made, and stays true to their morals while improving in quality from his previous films. In this film, the gospel is shared without reserve and it is shamelessly Christian. The movie follows the stories of five fathers, all who decide to follow the scriptures. It is neatly summed up by Adam in the movie: "I don't want to be just good enough." Throughout the film, we see God's providence and plan, and what happens when You both follow and don't follow that plan. The impact on their families that fathers have is the theme of the film and well-done. The fact that their actors are not famous, and their crew is mostly volunteers, they did an amazing fantastic job on this film. You should all go see it! It makes you cry and laugh multiple times in the movie. Their humor is funny but innocent.

The main difference between this film and their last one, Fireproof, is that Fireproof focused on one man. This last film had a lot of story, because you followed five men and their families in the same amount of time that Fireproof had. But they managed the time efficiently and one felt sufficiently connected with each family so that by the end of the movie, you thoroughly sympathized with them. One of my personal favorite moments is when one of the fathers, Nathan, takes his daughter to a fancy dinner and explains that he wants the very best in life for her. The multiple-family element is important because they have a teenage son, a teenage daughter, a younger daughter, and a younger son, hitting on everyone's situation.

It is rated PG-13 because the policemen are fired upon and deal with drugs, as well as some mature themes, but it is an excellent movie for the whole family.

Review by Beckyelsie